Yankees projected starting rotation to begin the season

On Sunday the Yankees made their final roster cuts and manager Aaron Boone confirmed that the 25-man Opening Day roster is set. Now that it’s finalized we have a pretty good idea what the starting rotation will look like to begin the season.

Luis Severino was supposed to be the Yankees Opening Day starter this Thursday against the Orioles but right rotator cuff inflammation will keep him sidelined on the injured list. After the team shut him down for two weeks he has resumed his throwing program and the hope is he can return at some point in May.

In his absence, Masahiro Tanaka will make his fourth career start on Opening Day. Offseason acquisition James Paxton will make his Yankee debut on Saturday and J.A. Happ will take the mound on Sunday. We knew these guys would start the first three games of the season weeks ago, but what we didn’t know was who would follow them.

With Severino set to start the season on the DL and CC Sabathia suspended for the first five games of the season, the Yanks fourth starter will be Domingo German. He’ll get the ball on Monday to open the series against the Tigers. German earned this spot with a solid spring and with Sevy out for at least the entire month of April he’ll get a handful of opportunities early on in the year to make a strong impression.

Even though CC will start the season on the 25-man roster once his suspension is up he will head to the IL as well. CC got a late start to the spring after undergoing emergency heart surgery in December so he needs a little more time to prepare for what is set to be the final season of his career. The expectation is CC will only miss a turn or two through the rotation and he isn’t dealing with an actual injury which is good news for the Yanks since they’re pretty banged up entering the season.

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Once CC’s serves the five-game suspension the Yankees top pitching prospect Jonathan Loaisiga will reportedly take his spot on the roster and could make a start or two until he returns. Luis Cessa was also in the mix to fill a rotation spot with CC and Sevy out but he is going to serve as the long men out of the bullpen.

The newest Yankee Gio Gonzalez will not be on the Opening Day roster as he needs more time after signing with the club so close to the regular season. If German falters in April, Gonzalez could be in line for a call up to take his rotation spot.

Although that, of course, depends on how he looks pitching at the minor league complex in Tampa and if management feels like he’s all worked up and ready to pitch every fifth day. He has an opt-out on April 20th so that’s something to keep an eye on as the month progresses.

This obviously isn’t the rotation the Yankees planned on featuring to start the season, but the good news is they should be back to full strength by some time in May. Losing Sevy, the ace of the staff, for the first month of the season is a big blow but if he can come back healthy this rotation still has a chance to be one of the best in the league.

In the meantime, the hope is that with Tanaka, Paxton, and Happ leading the way the rotation can still be a strength early on.