ARLINGTON, Texas — Baseball has a way of working itself out.
Not long ago, Aaron Boone was regularly peppered with questions prior to Gerrit Cole’s June return from the injured list.
Most of them were some version of how would the Yankees open a spot for Cole in a full rotation, only for Clarke Schmidt to get injured in late May and make it not much of a decision at all.
And then on Monday night, with another rotation crunch looming, the Yankees got another scare when Gerrit Cole left his start with a trainer in the bottom of the seventh inning. But if Cole’s right calf cramp turns out to be as harmless as it sounded when it was announced, the Yankees will have a decision to make about their rotation in the coming days, with no simple solution to solve it.
Luis Gil threw 80 pitches in a rehab start Sunday and is expected to return to the rotation this weekend at Wrigley Field against the Cubs.
Clarke Schmidt made his third and likely final rehab start on Monday night with Double-A Somerset, setting him up to also return this weekend in Chicago.
Boone indicated on Monday that the Yankees could potentially use a six-man rotation one time through as Gil and Schmidt slot back in, but they would not want to do that the rest of the season, which means a difficult decision is coming.
“We’ll see,” Boone said Monday before the Yankees opened a series against the Rangers at Globe Life Field. “We’re not at that point yet. Hopefully a decision is not made for us because something comes up or something happens. When we get to that point, hopefully we’re in a position that we have to make a tough call on somebody. We’ll do that when we have to do it.”
Boone also said that the Yankees could “get creative in another way” — he did not say how, but that could mean using two starters piggybacking each other.
“We’ll work through that here over the next 24-48 hours,” Boone said.
The decision may ultimately come down to what the Yankees believe can help them the most come October, though they still have a lot on the line in September as they entered Monday leading AL East by a half-game over the Orioles.
For now, Cole started on Monday night and was set to be followed by Carlos Rodon on Tuesday and Marcus Stroman on Wednesday.
After an off day Thursday, both Gil and Nestor Cortes would be on normal rest to start Friday’s series opener against the Cubs.
Cole (3.86 ERA entering Monday) is a lock to remain in the rotation, assuming he stays healthy while trying to find his groove after missing the first two and a half months of the season with elbow nerve inflammation.
Rodon (4.31) is likely to remain, despite some inconsistency over the last two months following a strong start to the season.
Stroman (3.81) has been better over his last four starts since getting pushed back to work on his mechanics while Cortes (4.08) took a step back on Sunday after looking like he had turned a corner.
Schmidt has not pitched in the big leagues since May 26 because of a lat strain, but had posted a 2.86 ERA through his first 11 starts and has been building back up for a starter’s workload in his rehab. The right-hander, like Cortes, does have relief experience.
And then there is Gil, who may be the biggest wild card. He was in the Cy Young conversation early in the season after a dominant start, struggled in late June and then got back into a groove before sustaining a lower back strain on Aug. 20.
He is well past his career-high in innings, and a move to the bullpen (where his swing-and-miss stuff could be of use) would help manage that workload.
But when he is right, his biggest impact might be as a starter, and he said Monday he “definitely” thinks he can get back to that early-season dominance.
“I think when you take into consideration the entire season and the way I was able to compete early in the season, I feel like I have a pretty good chance at getting back to that point and competing at that level,” Gil said through an interpreter. “I feel good right now and hopefully we get into the playoffs and get a chance to compete.”