The New York Yankees have more or less set their playoff rotation, but they've left one thing blank: the Game 3 starter. It was expected to be Luis Gil after a brilliant rookie season, but pitching coach Matt Blake hasn't yet determined who will get the ball that game.
Unsurprisingly, the Yankees have tabbed Gerrit Cole to start the American League Division Series opener on Saturday. He's their ace, so he will start the series. Carlos Rodon, who enjoyed a bounce-back campaign, will start Game 2 on Monday.
Cole is also set to go in Game 4 if necessary. The Yankees will determine who starts Game 3, but it will either be Gil or Clarke Schmidt. There are cases for both, and the other would primarily work out of the bullpen.
Blake said via ESPN that Gil has no bullpen experience, while Schmidt does.
"Definitely a concern, something we haven't done with him up to this point," Blake said. "So definitely some unknown involved with that and that's part of the conversation about why we might use Clarke and him in different roles. Obviously, we know Clarke's done it in the past so there's some definite unknown with what Luis would look like in the pen."
Schmidt had 30 career relief appearances before being converted into a full-time starter. He only logged 85.1 innings this year after he landed on the IL.
Yankees pitching coach lauds Carlos Rodon ahead of playoff start
No matter what, the New York Yankees are starting Gerrit Cole and then Carlos Rodon. That will be the one-two punch they open the series with. What comes after remains to be seen, but Rodon is getting the ball after Cole.
Although not as dominant as he was during his stints with the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants, Rodon enjoyed a quality year and is the only starter who began and ended the season in the starting rotation without ever leaving it.
Matt Blake said:
"I just think that the mental growth we've seen of just understanding who he is, understanding who he can be going forward. And then just seeing how the league's adjusting to him, I think he's done a really nice job of just continuing to evolve."
His starting Game 2 is something that felt impossible after last year's disastrous, injury-riddled campaign.