The Yankees are in must-win mode while holding just a half-game lead over the Blue Jays for the final playoff spot, but neither Giancarlo Stanton or Luke Voit are in Friday night’s lineup against the Mets.
With no DH at Citi Field, Aaron Boone elected to go with an outfield of Joey Gallo, Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge, and Anthony Rizzo at first base. So, two of the slumping offense’s hottest bats will have to come off the bench in the series opener.
“Especially now as we’re much more whole and healthy and have all our guys, you hate not having our DH there, but that’s part of it,” Boone said. “We’ve got two big bats over there we can fire in different situations, hopefully in a big spot tonight.”
The rotation is hopefully in the process of getting healthier as well, as Gerrit Cole, who left Tuesday’s outing with hamstring tightness, will throw a bullpen on Saturday and could make his next start on Tuesday night.
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“Probably leaning towards Tuesday right now, we’ll just see though,” Boone said. “He’s got a bullpen tomorrow, and that will tell us a lot and be one of those final checkpoints that we have to go through, but feeling good or optimistic about him being inserted early next week.”
Jameson Taillon is rehabbing at Yankee Stadium and could come out of his walking boot on Friday, as he looks to minimize his time off the mound with an ankle injury. Meanwhile, Michael King is back from the 60-day IL and is ready to be used in multiple roles for a shorthanded pitching staff. His return is a welcomed one, as he holds a 3.72 ERA on the season before suffering a finger injury.
“In his last outing, he was able to build up a little,” Boone said. “His previous inning, he was gonna go two innings and maybe 35 pitches, and he was so efficient, he struck out a bunch of guys but went like two and 21 pitches, so he went another one…threw the ball really well. Reports have been really good.”
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