The Yankees had a two-game lead for the top wild-card spot heading into the weekend, but have since dropped two games to the Rays. With the Yankees inability to clinch (they need just one win to take one of the wild-card spots), the AL wild-card race is going to be tight enough to make Sunday’s game in Yankee Stadium interesting.
The Yankees will play again after Sunday’s regular-season finale — either in a Game 163 tiebreaker for a wild-card spot, or in the AL Wild Card Game. As such, the Yankees had a choice to make about their Sunday pitching plans.
After the loss Saturday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said they were, at that point, unsure about who would get the ball Sunday. The viable options:
- Ace Gerrit Cole on short rest
- Righty Jameson Taillon, if his ankle is OK
- A bullpen game, likely started by former (and likely future) starter Luis Severino
After some time lapsed, the Yankees officially announced Taillon as the starter.
Taillon recently returned from an ankle injury on Wednesday, but ended up pulling himself after just 2 1/3 innings with the injury reaggravated. He apparently felt better quickly, as he threw a bullpen session Friday night.
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“He was sharp,” Boone said (via nj.com). “He looks really good. He feels really good. Most importantly, his arm and everything is good. But the ankle is responding. There’s no favoring. He’s letting it rip. His mechanics are really sound. I would have to say the bullpen he just threw was very encouraging.”
By starting Taillon on Sunday, the Yankees will be able to pitch Cole on regular or extra rest in either a tiebreaker game or the AL Wild Card Game. Indeed, Boone made it clear before Sunday’s game that Cole will not be an option as they save him for an elimination game situation.
Taillon, 29, is 8-6 with a 4.40 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 138 strikeouts in 141 innings this season, his first after being acquired in a trade from the Pirates. He’s faced the Rays — who will start veteran righty Michael Wacha in the regular season finale — twice this season and has gone 0-2 with a 6.52 ERA.
