Yankees: Who’s the next best option to fill James Paxton’s rotation spot?

Jonathan Loaisiga was called up earlier this month to replace the injured James Paxton in the starting rotation but on Monday he was also placed on the IL with a  strained right rotator cuff. The young right-hander will be shut down for four weeks and now once again the Yankees will have to find a new fifth starter.

On the same day the Yankees welcomed back Aaron Hicks from the injured list they were forced to place two more players on the IL in the form of Loaisiga and Miguel Andujar. The injured list is now back up to 13 players which is the second most in baseball behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Losing Andujar again stings because it could lead to him needing season-ending labrum surgery but not as much as it would have thanks to the emergence of Gio Urshela. However, in the case of Loaisiga (who was replacing Paxton), the Yankees are now running out of quality internal options to call up and fill that spot in the starting rotation.

The Yanks are hopeful Paxton can return from left knee inflammation by the end of the month or in early June. That means they’ll only need someone to fill in for another three or four turns through the rotation.

Chance Adams was called up to fill Loaisiga’s spot on the roster but we’ll have to wait and see how long he’ll be up and what role he will play moving forward. He pitched to a 4.80 ERA in six starts with the Railriders prior to his call up so it’s hard to consider him a viable rotation option until Paxton returns.

One route they could go is by using Luis Cessa as a multi-inning opener and have someone like Adams ready to follow him in the pen to pitch the middle innings. That seemed like the plan for Monday night’s game before it was rained out, but if Paxton is going to be out for at least another three weeks the Yankees could really tax their bullpen using that strategy every fifth day.

The Yankees also recalled Triple-A starter Nestor Cortes Jr. to replace Andujar on the roster but his numbers with Scranton weren’t all that impressive either (4.54 in 33.2 IP, six starts). He pitched two innings in his season debut on Saturday and gave up three runs so he’s also probably not the best option.

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Monday night the Yankees were able to avoid using Cessa, Adams or Cortes Jr. after the rainout and J.A. Happ was scheduled to get the start on Tuesday as they had planned before it was rained out too. They’ll have another couple days to decide who will make the start the next time Loaisiga’s turn in the rotation comes up which gives GM Brian Cashman time to possibly make a move to find another starter.

I don’t think we’ll see the Yankees pursue signing free agent Dallas Keuchel just yet but if Paxton doesn’t get healthy by June 2nd they could change their minds. Before Keuchel became a free agent this past offseason he rejected the 17.9M qualifying offer which means he’s tied to draft compensation in this year’s MLB Draft (June 3rd through June 5th).

Once the midnight deadline hits on June 2nd the team that signs Keuchel would no longer have to forfeit a draft compensation pick. If the Yankees signed Keuchel before the 3rd the pick that would go to the Astros would be the 38th which they acquired in the Sonny Gray trade. It also holds a slot value of 1.952M according to Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network.

Unless another starter gets injured or Paxton ends up missing more time than expected I still don’t think we’ll see them go after Keuchel during May. That being said it’s something to definitely keep an eye on in the coming weeks as we approach June.