How would you line up the Yankees’ starting rotation?

TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 18: Gerrit Cole #45 and Max Fried #54 of the New York Yankees look on during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 18, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images The closer we get to Opening Day, the sooner we’ll lean ab

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The closer we get to Opening Day, the sooner we’ll lean about the Yankees’ ultimate roster plans. Manager Aaron Boone got the obvious out of the way last night, with the confirmation that 2025 ace free-agent signing Max Fried will be the Opening Day starter.

If you had to line up the Yankees’ rotation beyond Fried right now, who would make your cut? For the purpose of this question, we want to know the specific order you’d use for the first time the Yankees need to pitch five starters in five days.

Fried, Ryan Weathers, Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil, and Will Warren all figure to be in the mix, but how are you lining them up and why? Maybe you’d like to get Ryan Yarbrough in there, too. This is a no-judgment zone!

Also, as a secondary exercise, suppose that all of the Yankees’ injured starters return and all are healthy. (I cannot emphasize enough that I do not believe this will happen because the best-laid plans of healthy pitching are best forgotten. But we’re having fun here! How would you line the front five up with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt in the mix? Yes, yes, the boring-but-correct answer is that it depends on how all the pitchers look in that moment, and especially how the arms respond to their various comebacks.

For the first prompt, my gut says to go Fried/Schlittler/Weathers/Gil/Warren, and for the second, Fried/Cole/Rodón/Schlittler/Schmidt — tagging Weathers in for Schmidt since I don’t really trust that his elbow will let him make so many starts for the 2026 Yanks. Let us hope that this is a problem the Yankees are forced to handle! I’m feeling optimistic about most of these names anyway.

Today on the site, John and Matt lead will recap the WBC action from Monday, Sam will preview Ryan Weathers’ 2026 campaign, Peter will look across town and read the tea leaves about the 2026 Mets, and Nick will celebrate the birthday of Steve Howe, a very talented pitcher whose own demons unfortunately kept him from sticking around on this Earth for very long.