Gerrit Cole to start Game 1 against Rays

Interesting. Because of the extra off day built into the ALDS schedule, teams only need three starters. The Yankees, though, seem set to use four anyway. They could then pick between Gerrit Cole on six days’ rest or Cam Schlittler on four days’ rest in a potential Game 5.

That means that Max Fried will pitch for the Yankees in Game 2 while Gerrit Cole would be waiting in the wings for Game 3 if necessary. Schlittler is certainly deserving of the honor as he posted a brilliant 1.95 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 239 strikeouts over 193 2/3 innings over 33 starts during the regular season and is the favorite to take home Cy Young award honors in the American League.

Cole struck out eight and walked three to conclude the regular season 10-9 with a 3.61 ERA. Cedric Mullins homered off him, but that was one of only three hard-hit balls he allowed. It’s unclear if Cole will be penciled in for a start in the Wild Card series next week. He seems like the Yankees’ fourth-best option right now.

Rodón also picked up his 1,500th strikeout along the way, so it was quite the milestone day for him. The left-hander allowed only three hits and walked none in the 96-pitch outing. It’s his first time this year completing eight innings and second time in his four seasons with the Yankees. Rodón is now 7-3 with a 2.67 ERA for the year. Manager Aaron Boone said after the game that Rodón won’t start Sunday’s finale, but he didn’t rule out having him pitch in relief. It’s unclear if Rodón will have the chance to start against Boston next week; it’ll probably come down to him or Gerrit Cole in a potential Game 3.

Cole allowed four hits, walked none and struck out six in his best outing in a month. Corbin Carroll’s rocket 388-foot homer accounted for the only damage. Cole is back at 9-9 with a 3.63 ERA. He’s slated to take on the Rays in his regular-season finale.

Rodón struck out five and walked three in the 102-pitch outing. His velocity was notably down early on before he seemed to find it in the fourth inning. This was Rodón’s 25th straight start without allowing more than three earned runs, a franchise record. Despite the performance, he was in line for the loss before the game went to extra innings, and the Yankees still lost 5-4 in 13 innings. The left-hander lines up for a big divisional showdown against the Rays next time out.

Last Sunday against the Padres, it was pretty much just the four homers that did Cole in, and he was quite good after giving up three in a row to start the game. Today, though, he was just crushed throughout. 14 of the 18 balls in play he allowed were hard hit, and he generated only three whiffs on 40 swings. The Yankees have to be fairly concerned at this point. He’s given up 20 homers in 115 1/3 innings on the season. In his last full year in 2023, he allowed 20 homers in 209 innings while taking home AL Cy Young honors. Cole will next face the Diamondbacks in Arizona on Friday.

Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado homered to start the bottom of the first. It was the 12th time ever that a team opened a game with three straight homers. Cole was also responsible for one of the previous 11 against the Twins in 2022. The fourth run today also came on a homer from Luis Campusano in the seventh. Cole allowed only two other hits and walked none. He settled for three strikeouts, but he did have 12 whiffs on 47 swings. He threw a total of 24 pitches over the final three innings and 84 pitches overall. In all, it was a pretty reasonable outing, though it did result in him falling to 8-8 with a 3.41 ERA. He’ll face the Mets next weekend.

Rodón gave up two hits, walked three and struck out seven. He improved to 5-3 with the win. Rodón hadn’t completed five innings in his last three starts entering play Saturday, so his outing against the Padres was a step in the right direction. He has a 3.09 ERA. Rodón is lined up to face the Mets at home next weekend.

Cole tossed two scoreless innings before the Angels put a run on the board on two hits in the third. He’d settle in to pitch into the sixth, recording one out and giving up two more runs on three hits before he was replaced at 90 pitches. He struck out five. The 35-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 3.29 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and a 110/22 K/BB ratio across 104 innings into a start against the Rockies in New York next Tuesday.