The New York Yankees are being forced into a corner regarding their starting pitching unit. After using Gerrit Cole and Masahiro Tanaka on Wednesday in a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves, losing both games, they will have to dive into their taxi squad to last the weekend.
With two doubleheaders, one on Friday and the other on Sunday, utilizing young pitching prospects will be on a necessity.
In the first game of the doubleheader on Friday, Jordan Montgomery will take the mound. In the second game, the Yankees will utilize their bullpen to last a shortened seven-inning contest. However, over the weekend, players like Deivi Garcia and Clarke Schmidt could be handled the ball in their first MLB starts.
Trade bait or legitimate Yankees starters?
Ultimately, the two pitching prospects are considered trade bait at this point in the season. With injuries littered across the roster, the Yankees desperately need more talent to uplift their spirits. They’re currently on a five-game losing streak and need support in the bullpen and starting rotation. Finding a way to grab a solidified starter would be a huge boost to a team that recently lost James Paxton due to a flexor strain. He is currently on the 10-day injured list and will return eventually, but his velocity has already been down and has struggled at times on the mound.
Giving Garcia and Schmidt an opportunity to showcase their abilities, could give them a stock bump in a trade scenario for the Yankees. Often times, deals don’t happen until the final day of the deadline, and we shouldn’t expect a manager Aaron Boone to give away their hand so soon. General manager Brian Cashman works quietly behind the scenes, and despite losing out on Tijuana Walker, there are plenty of pitchers they can target.
When asked about the trade deadline Boone said, “Honestly, no real expectations. Obviously it’s such a unique year and i think [general manager Brian Cashman] and everyone in the front office is kind of navigating what all that means. I know they’re certainly doing their due diligence and going through the process and having conference calls and Zoom calls and definitely exploring a lot of different options. What comes from that remains to be seen. But I haven’t really had any heavy conversations with Cash the last couple of days in regards to that other than knowing they’re putting a lot of time into at least exploring different options.â€
Unfortunately, trading for players is always at a loss. Waiting until free agency would be the ideal scenario, but the number of injuries is forcing the Yankees’ hand. Worst case scenario, they stay with their current group and hope for the best, and best-case scenario they land and experience starter who can hold down the fort in the meantime. It is also possible that Schmidt and Garcia simply earn debut starts and continue from there. Both are quality arms who are rising through the ranks and deserve an opportunity at this point.