Yankees Rumors: Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray

Even with Domingo German expected to come off the IL on Tuesday, the Yankees are still in need of a starting pitcher. The latest suggestion comes from Ken Rosenthal and his belief that Robbie Ray would be an excellent addition.

One night after the Yankees bullpen blew a 2-1 James Paxton lead — and eventually succumbed to a 4-2 loss to the lowly Mets, Domingo German will be activated off the injured list and hopefully pitch the way he did over this first 11 starts, and not his last two.

With the recent, best case scenario revelation that Luis Severino will not return until at least August, the Yanks need to add a reliable starter sooner rather than later. And with only 28 days until the July 31 trade deadline, time is of the essence.

Names such as Madison Bumgarner, Zack Wheeler, Marcus Stroman and Matt Boyd have been tossed around thus far; however, a new name has entered the fray, Robbie Ray.

Courtesy of Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, should the 43-44 Arizona Diamondbacks decide to go into full-blown rebuild mode, a sleeper of a trade asset could become left-hander Robbie Ray.

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Lefty Robbie Ray, earning $6.05 million this season with one year of arbitration remaining, would be a less complicated transaction. The Yankees and other teams historically have liked Ray not simply because he is left-handed, but also because his career 28.3 percent strikeout rate is higher than that of Clayton Kershaw (27.4), Madison Bumgarner (23.9) and Patrick Corbin (22.9).Ray, 27, has the upside of a No. 2 starter, though he rarely pitches deep into games. Teams also view him as a potential weapon out of the bullpen in the postseason.

Coming off a career-best 15 wins and first ever All-Star Game appearance in 2017, Ray battled injuries last season, tossing only 123.2 innings. His career high in innings pitched (174.1) came in 2016.

Pitching for a mediocre Diamondbacks team this season, Ray is 5-6 with a 4.10 ERA, 1.358 WHIP and 129:49 K:BB ratio across 98.2 frames. Though the walks and 14 home runs allowed are a bit high, his .233 BAA and 0.96 GO/AO are workable.

Naturally, Yankee fans would probably like to see the club acquire someone a little more refined, especially when it comes to playoff experience, but Ray could be had for a lot less than many of the other available names on the trade market.

General manager Brian Cashman must think long and hard if Ray’s stuff will translate to the Bronx. In his past seven outings, Ray has been hit especially hard — going 1-5 with a 5.31 ERA (24 earned runs) and 38 hits allowed in 40.2 innings.