Yankees giving Sonny Gray another start to give the rotation extra rest

Sonny Gray has only made one start since he was demoted to the bullpen at the beginning of August but the Yankees plan on giving him another spot start Tuesday night against the Twins. This will allow them to line up their starting rotation the way they want to from here on out and give their starters some extra rest.

It might seem like a risky move to insert Gray back into the rotation for a start at such a crucial point in the season, but the Yankees are looking at the bigger picture here. By starting Gray on Tuesday it will give an extra day of rest to Luis Severino before he makes his scheduled start on Wednesday. It will also give Masahiro Tanaka two extra days of rest because the team has an off day on Thursday before he takes the mound Friday night at home.

Tanaka has been the Yankees best starter of late and throughout his career, he’s been even better when he pitches on extra rest. As for Sevy, he could use another day to prepare for his start as he continues to struggle to snap out of his second-half slump. Fatigue could be playing a role in his lackluster performance this half so hopefully, the extra day will help Sevy regain his All-Star form.

The move also lines him up to pitch in both of the final two series against the rival Red Sox. That could be looked at as a bad thing considering how poorly Sevy has pitched, but the important thing here is that he’ll get the extra day of rest before his upcoming start.

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Part of the reason the Yankees likely felt comfortable giving Gray another start is the opponent he’ll be facing and the fact that he’ll be pitching on the road. The Twins are not a good baseball team at 65-77 and Gray has a 3.09 road ERA compared to his abysmal 6.98 ERA in the Bronx.

Gray has also only allowed two runs over his last 15.2 innings pitched. His last start came in Baltimore on August 25th against a terrible Orioles team where he pitched 6.1 scoreless innings only allowing 3 hits and striking out 7.

The Yankees should feel somewhat confident that Gray can deliver another quality start but it should be interesting to see who’s catching him behind the plate. We all know that Gary Sanchez was blamed for some of Gray’s struggles last year and earlier this season, but that excuse can’t be used anymore. Austin Romine has been his primary catcher since early April and Gray pitched poorly enough with him behind the plate to be kicked out of the rotation.

This is obviously a huge start for Sonny as he tries to earn a spot on the postseason roster and the trust back from the Yankees coaching staff. It’s been a lost season for him up to this point but he still has an opportunity to salvage it to some extent with a strong finish.

This could be his last chance to pitch in the rotation with this Yankee team because the more he struggles the more likely it is he’ll be traded somewhere else this offseason.