Yankees Luis Cessa to Make First Big League Start Saturday

24-year-old New York Yankees righthander Luis Cessa will make his first career big league start Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels.

40% of the current New York Yankees rotation was acquired for a lefty reliever with an ERA of 4.57 as of Friday night. Not too shabby Cashman.

25-year-old righty Chad Green tossed six innings of shutout ball Wednesday against one of the best offenses in the major leagues, striking out six Blue Jays and allowing no walks.

That’s a tough act to follow for Luis Cessa, the other pitcher acquired from the Tigers in the Justin Wilson trade last December. Cessa will take Nathan Eovaldi‘s vacated spot in the rotation Saturday evening against the Angels. 

More from Yankees News

• Why weren’t Yankees in on Kodai Senga now that we know the price?
• Baseball Reference proves Yankees’ Aaron Judge lives rent free in Boston
• Yankees’ Clay Holmes trade just became even bigger disaster for Pirates
• Mets stealing New York Post’s entire Yankees offseason plan is hilarious
• Yankees add to championship core with Wilmer Difo signing

Luis Cessa is a familiar face to Yankees fans at this point. He made the team out of spring training and has been up and down to provide an extra arm periodically. His results haven’t been very encouraging, but small sample size rules apply.

In eight appearances (18.2 IP), Cessa has a 5.30 ERA and 6.58 FIP. He has only struck out 11 batters and allowed five home runs in his young big league career. Not great, but there’s still time.

Originally signed as a shortstop as a teenager by the New York Mets, Cessa hit .162/.230/.191 (35 wRC+) in 74 plate appearances in rookie ball before the club had seen enough. The Mets liked his arm enough to try him off the mound. The results were immediate.

Cessa has compiled a 3.59 ERA in six minor league seasons as a starter since then. He came over to Detroit as the second piece in trade that sent Yoenis Cespedes to the Mets in 2015. Cessa made a few starts for the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate before the trade to the Yankees system last winter. 

While he has a solid low-90’s heater that can touch 95, Luis Cessa is more of a command guy. He has two OK secondary offerings- a changeup and slider. He’s athletic, durable, and by all accounts is a hard worker who took quickly to his new profession.

Next: Finding the Best New York Yankees Lineup

In all likelihood, Luis Cessa is more of a long reliever/spot starter type than a pitcher who will be a fixture of the Yankees rotation for years to come. That said, it’s all about what happens on the field. If Cessa goes out there and does well, the Yankees will keep putting him out there. They don’t have a ton of other options, so Cessa has a real chance to earn a leg-up on a starting job next year.