The New York Yankees are turning Sunday into an Elmer Rodriguez day. The 22-year-old will start in place of Gerrit Cole, and Cole has been pushed back to Monday’s series opener in Detroit as the club tries to get through a run of 16 games in 16 days with every starter getting an extra day.
That is a notable detour even for a team with rotation depth. Rodríguez had been lined up to start Saturday night for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in Columbus, Ohio, before the Yankees called on him to take the ball at Yankee Stadium. It is also why his name is drawing attention now: he is the Yankees’ most MLB-ready pitching prospect, and this is his latest chance to hold a big-league role rather than wait for one.
Boone said the decision had been under discussion for days, and the logic is straightforward. The club is in the middle of a compressed stretch, and it is trying to be careful with innings as the summer goes on. That matters because the current staff is already carrying real mileage. Cam Schlittler leads the Yankees with 95 innings, Ryan Weathers has thrown 80 2/3, Will Warren has 78 1/3 total innings, and Carlos Rodón has already put in 36 frames in six starts since returning from the injured list on May 10.
Cole’s case makes the move look even more deliberate. He played catch in center field at Yankee Stadium before Saturday’s game and had looked fine, coming off a Tuesday start in which he threw a season-high 90 pitches, allowed two runs in six innings against the Chicago White Sox and improved to 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA in five starts. The Yankees still chose the pause, which says less about one outing than about the shape of the month ahead.
Rodríguez has already made three major league starts this season and is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA, which gives the Yankees a workable bridge while Cole rests. Boone said it would not be shocking if the team uses a six-man rotation at least until the All-Star break, and that is the real takeaway from Sunday: this is not just one spot start, but a sign that the Yankees are willing to stretch the rotation rather than force it through the calendar on a tight schedule.
