LAKELAND, Fla. — After one injury and one rejection, the Yankees have an unfilled position for Opening Day starter.
Send all applications to 1 East 161st Street in The Bronx.
Gerrit Cole will not get the ball on March 28 in Houston because of his right elbow concerns, and Marcus Stroman — the next most logical candidate — prefers to stay on his current schedule, which has the righty lined up to pitch March 30 (Game 3 of the Astros series), and the April 5 home opener against the Blue Jays.
In the wake of Cole’s injury, GM Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone approached Stroman to gauge his interest for the Opening Day honor.
While Boone said the decision still could change, Stroman valued remaining on his schedule over the frills of Game 1.
“I think they thought I was going to be like, ‘Hey, let me get it,’ ” Stroman said of the conversation after a 7-0 loss to the Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium on Thursday.
“But like I said, that’s not my nature, man. Doesn’t matter to me.”
What did matter was possibly baking several more days of rest into his throwing program just before the start of the season.
“People don’t understand how much changing your schedule at this point in the spring — might seem like it’s easy — but every little day matters,” said Stroman, who has pitched in three Opening Days, including last year for the Cubs.
Boone already has announced Carlos Rodon will start the second game of the season.
Could Nestor Cortes or Clarke Schmidt get the nod for the opener?
“Could be,” Boone said, but those two are not lined up for March 28.
Both are aligned to pitch Friday — Schmidt in a game in Tampa against the Pirates, Cortes in a simulated game — but they, too, would need alterations in their throw days to make sense for the season opener.
Cortes, who has pitched in the majors for parts of four years with the Yankees, is probably most deserving of an Opening Day nod that comes with a certain amount of prestige.
The lefty, though, is coming off a poor season that included rotator cuff issues and has been building up a bit slower.
In each spring outing he has pitched on five days’ rest.
Following his session Friday, he could take an extra day and pitch on six’ days rest, which would mean he could take five days’ of rest to lead into a March 28 start.
Flipping the schedule of Schmidt — who is pitching Friday on four days’ rest — would be a bit more challenging.
Boone, who declined to shed much light on the newest Yankees mystery, acknowledged that there will be some juggling of schedules to ensure someone will be ready for an opener that is now less than two weeks away.
“I’ve decided who’s starting,” Boone said.
“I just want to let a few more days go off the clock. A lot can happen.”
The only other candidate would be the winner of the fifth starting job — there is a crowded competition that includes Luke Weaver, Cody Poteet, Cody Morris, Clayton Beeter and Will Warren — unless the Yankees invite fan derision and opt for a bullpen game.
After turning down the No. 1 job, Stroman is excited to see who claims the No. 5 job.
“I think we have some good guys to fill a role for the time being,” said Stroman, who allowed four earned runs in 4 ¹/₃ innings but built up to 68 pitches with two more spring starts to go.
“I feel like everybody knows losing the best pitcher in baseball is always going to hurt. There’s no way to get around that.”
“But having guys who can step in, and our young guys are pretty incredible. Getting to know Beeter, Warren, [Chase] Hampton — those guys are legit.”
Thursday night, the Yankees learned that the initial belief is Cole, following a visit with Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, will not need surgery and can return in perhaps around two months.
One Yankees mystery is just about solved, but another will need a resolution.
As for Stroman, he is shrugging off what is ultimately one game and looking ahead to one season.
“For me, it’s going out there and making 32-, 33-plus starts, that’s the goal,” Stroman said. “Doesn’t matter if you start out in the one or the five position.”