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Here are some key Yankees updates as the team prepares for the ALCS, with their opponent to be determined Saturday when the Guardians and Tigers play Game 5 of the ALDS in Cleveland…
Game 1 starter TBD
Manager Aaron Boone spoke to reporters via Zoom on Saturday afternoon while the Guardians-Tigers Game 5 was being played, and told reporters they’ll wait to see who advances to the ALCS before making a decision later tonight or Sunday morning.
He made it clear that Luis Gil will not be the Game 1 starter and that he will go “later in the series.”
Boone added that Gil will throw a sim game tomorrow. The rookie did not pitch in the ALDS against the Kansas City Royals, as the team chose to start Clarke Schmidt in Game 3 instead. Gil last pitched on Sept. 28 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
After not committing to a starter for Game 1, Boone did say that Cole is expected to start Game 2 of the ALCS on regular rest.
The right-hander dominated in Game 4 of the ALDS on Thursday, tossing seven innings and allowing just one run to the Royals on six hits.
Game 2 of the ALCS is scheduled for Tuesday at 7:37 p.m.
Boone said he “doesn’t know his status yet” when asked if Rizzo (broken fingers) will be ready to play in the ALCS.
The Yanks won’t have a decision on if Rizzo will be on the ALCS roster until Monday.
“There has been progress,” Boone said. “He hasn’t done a lot physically, like baseball-wise, to kind of let that thing heal up as much as possible and doing a lot of treatments.”
Rizzo was not on the ALDS roster after he suffered the injury on the second-to-last day of the regular season.
If Rizzo doesn’t make the ALCS roster, Boone said first base will be a “fluid situation” and he liked what he saw from Oswaldo Cabrera and Jon Berti against Kansas City.
12 or 13 pitchers for ALCS roster
New York carried 11 pitchers for the ALDS, notably leaving off Marcus Stroman and Mark Leiter Jr.
“We’ll add at least one pitcher,” Boone said. “Probably end up deciding between 12 or 13 pitchers. Again, those are things we’ll talk through, probably tomorrow before our workout, at length.”
Although, Boone did not hint at who could be added for the next round of the playoffs.
Alex Verdugo “likely” to continue starting in LF
Verdugo started all four games of the ALDS in LF over Jasson Dominguez, and Boone said that is “likely” to continue in the ALCS.
Verdugo went 3-for-14 with one RBI and one walk against KC, while Dominguez did not play at all.
Ahead of Game 4 on Thursday, the 28-year-old expressed confidence in himself to show up in the postseason, crediting his experience playing on the big stage.
“Like I said, when it’s the moment when it’s time to really shine, really do something I live for this stage and I love it,” Verdugo said. “And this is the kinda baseball I wanna be a part of and I think the team would agree that it’s just good, it’s a good fit, feels good.”
He added: “I have an actual career, as in, I have a track record, I’ve played several years in the big leagues, done this before. Never been to the World Series, but I lean into some of my past memories and things like that. I understand who I am as a player and when we need to get going it doesn’t matter how I feel, you gotta go out there, compete, give it 100 percent.”
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