Tuesday brings the Yankees inside 10 days until their season opener against the Washington Nationals, and also brought about a handful of items of pitching news as it relates to the team.
It seems as if Gerrit Cole is locked in to being the Opening Day starter against the Nationals, but beyond that, everything is in a state of flux as the Yankees navigate injuries and evaluate options.
Speaking of:
HAPP, YANKEES REVIEWING VESTING OPTIONSMLB insider Ken Rosenthal reported Monday night that the MLB and MLBPA have agreed to a plan that says triggers for any vesting options based on 2020 performance will vest in full off pro-rated triggers – likely in the range of 37 percent of the terms, as 60 games is roughly 37 percent of 162 games.
How this affects the Yankees is in the status of J.A. Happ, who has a $17 million vesting option for 2021 based on making 27 starts or pitching 165 innings in 2020. A pro-rated trigger of that would be 10 starts or 61 1/3 innings, easily reachable for a healthy starter in 2020, but according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Happ is one of a handful of pitchers who have been excluded from this provision.
Per Sherman, exclusion means that Happ and the Yankees must either negotiate new contract details or have them decided by an arbitrator. Happ has had a strong Summer Camp so far, so it could be a matter of the Yankees looking to re-arrange the back end of his deal, perhaps as a means to not have to limit him in any way at some point during this season to try to avoid the option vesting in a tighter window.
TANAKA FEELING BETTER, BUT UNSURE OF TIMELINETen days after suffering a mild concussion from a line drive to the head off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton, Masahiro Tanaka was spotted doing a light workout in the outfield at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Later, in a Zoom call with the media, Tanaka joked that he has watched the video of his injury “many times,” but has no timetable on when he’ll be able to get back on the mound.
“I’m not sure. This whole thing is a day-by-day process, but hopefully I’m able to get back on the mound sooner rather than later.” Tanaka said through his interpreter, Shingo Horie.
Tanaka would need to go through a bullpen session and then face live hitters – a prospect he said he “wasn’t sure” if he would feel uneasy about – before having a chance to pitch. With an off day on July 24, the Yankees don’t need a fifth starter until sometime between July 28 (or July 29, if Gerrit Cole pitches on July 28 on regular rest), but neither date is a given for Tanaka.
“I want to be optimistic and say yes (he’ll be ready to pitch,” Tanaka said, “but obviously the injury is of the head. I think we’re taking the necessary steps to get there.”
COLE A NO-GO FOR SUBWAY EXHIBITION SERIESFinally, while new ace Gerrit Cole is on pace to be the Opening Day starter, there is one small detail manager Aaron Boone had to figure out: after Cole’s intra-squad start on Sunday, would Boone pitch Cole Friday on his regular turn and give him an extra day’s rest ahead of Opening Day, or slot in the extra rest now – which would line up Cole to start Saturday’s exhibition game against the Mets.
Boone revealed the plan is the former, saying on his daily Zoom call that “the team likes the idea” of giving Cole extra rest headed into the opener.
As much as seeing another team’s live hitters would benefit Cole, part of that could be subterfuge, as the team has long been wont to avoid having starters face division rivals in Spring Training (and, with six of 60 games this year against the Mets, that counts for more than usual in this case). Part of it could also be a way to keep the possibility of using Cole on normal four days’ rest on July 28, ostensibly “skipping” for at least one day the fifth starter’s spot that may need to be filled if Tanaka isn’t ready.
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