Throughout the course of a season, attrition will strike any major-league roster. The unit most vulnerable is often the starting pitching corps. The Yankees began the year without Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt, and while Cole and Rodón are back, the team has since lost Max Fried to injury. In the event that the team needs a replacement, either to make a spot start or to fill in for an injured starter, let’s take a look at the reinforcements available down at Triple-A. Note that Luis
Gil has been on the minor-league IL with shoulder inflammation since May 8th, so he’s not in the discussion. Neither is Carlos Lagrange, who has moved to the bullpen down at Triple-A in hopes he can contribute in a relief role at some point this season.
Elmer Rodríguez
Rodríguez has been the platonic ideal of a spot starter this season, starting four games across three different stints with the Yankees. In the most recent, an outing last Sunday in which he was tapped in to give the team’s regular rotation an extra day of rest, the Reds touched Rodríguez up for three runs in four innings.
The rookie has been consistent, if unspectacular, tossing between 4 and 4.2 innings while allowing between 1-3 runs in each of his starts. That shakes out to a 4.76 ERA (though his expected mark of 5.77 suggests he may have pitched into some good luck along the way). Rodríguez has done nothing to make the case for an expanded role but also nothing to discourage the Yankees from turning to him in a pinch. This intermittent experience in the big leagues is also invaluable for the team’s top pitching prospect, who will hopefully continue to develop his skill set in the years to come. In the meantime, Quadruple-A is a decent enough place to be.
Brendan Beck
Beck got called up to make an emergency bulk outing on May 7th, allowing two runs in three innings. Whether due to the spark of making his MLB debut or by coincidence, Beck has pitched some of the best baseball of his pro career since that day, going 5-0 with a 1.63 ERA in his last eight starts with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. And, while he’s struggled at times with control, his stuff has played, with the 27-year-old punching out 49 in 44 innings.
Due to his May call-up, the Yankees were forced to add the 27-year-old to their 40-man roster. This fact, combined with his recent success, should keep him in play for a return engagement in the event a spot start is needed. He’s been regularly throwing 80-plus pitches (peaking at 93 in an outing earlier this month) and should be able to give a competitive start in a pinch.
Paul Blackburn & Ryan Yarbrough
As always, in the event a spot start is called for, a bullpen game will be in play. Both Yarbrough and Blackburn have performed reasonably well in long relief roles and have extensive starting experience, making them options to pitch multiple innings either as openers or bulk arms. This is part of the reason why you carry long relievers in the first place.
Elmer Rodríguez and Brendan Beck are useful depth options should the Yankees need a short-term rotation solution. Neither has pitched well enough to inspire confidence that they’re ready to be difference-makers at the big-league level, but for a team that’s been spoiled with Ryan Weathers effectively serving as their number-five starter throughout the season, these two should be able to help hold down the fort until Fried returns — that is, unless another injury requires the team to seek a starter with a higher floor from outside the organization.
