Marcus Stroman's attempt to fill Nestor Cortes' shoes sets Yankees back even further

Presented with an opportunity to return to the rotation on Wednesday night to take over for the injured Nestor Cortes, Marcus Stroman did not rise to the occasion. With another chance to clinch the AL East division title against Baltimore on the line, Stro gave up three consecutive singles to Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg and Anthony Santander to start the first inning. That loaded the bases with nobody out.

The next three batters all singled as well, and just like that, the Yankees were down 3-0 out of the gate.

As manager Aaron Boone would say after the eventual 9-7 loss to the Orioles, “We didn’t play well early in this game ... we couldn’t get back in it."

The Orioles would go on to tag Stroman by a thousand cuts, with 10 singles and six earned runs off him in just 3 1/3 innings of work. Obviously, that wasn’t what the Yankees needed from their 33-year-old veteran; they needed him to step up and seize the opportunity with Cortes now out at least through the American League Division Series. Instead, Stroman took a step backwards trying to fill his shoes.

Admittedly it was Stroman’s first start since September 10, and he was clearly rusty. Rookie Jasson Domínguez’s adventure with Colton Cowser’s high fly ball down the left field line with the bases jacked in the first inning certainly didn’t help matters. But with a sky-high .277 batting average against and a concerning 1.47 WHIP, Stroman just isn’t missing enough bats. He logged only one strikeout Wednesday.

As Zach Braziller of the NY Post wrote: “Before the performance, Stroman was already a longshot to be in the playoff rotation, and that seems even more unlikely now. As for Stroman making the playoff roster, he may have a better shot since Cortes is injured, but the Yankees can’t feel great about him at the moment.“

There’s not much to feel great about. For the month of September, Stroman posted an 8.80 ERA over 15 1/3 innings of work, allowing 31 hits for a .419 opponents’ batting average and a 2.22 WHIP. That’s not a pitcher who makes a postseason roster, and we’re a long ways away from the guy who went 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA in six starts and 37 2/3 innings in May, and 7-4 with a 3.51 ERA in 19 starts and 105 innings before the All-Star Game.

That may open the door for Cody Poteet, who was activated Wednesday. The right-hander only allowed one run in 3 1/3 innings of work in relief of Stroman. While Stroman is still elite in terms of a 49.5% ground ball percentage, that also means batters are putting balls in play and finding holes; and, his 90 mph sinker isn’t enough to set up his off-speed stuff to generate swing-and-miss.

After a 12-3 stretch that felt like the Yankees were finally finding their groove, they now have even more questions to answer with the regular season coming to a close Sunday evening.