The New York Yankees will send left-hander Carlos Rodon to the mound on Monday for Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the visiting Cleveland Guardians.
Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, who won the Game 4 clincher in the AL Division Series against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday, is slated to start Game 2 on Tuesday in New York.
Rodon will be pitching on extra rest after he lost Game 2 of the ALDS last Monday. In his first postseason start with the Yankees, he tossed three scoreless innings before the Royals tagged him in a four-run fourth.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of takeaways for him, and hopefully things that he can apply moving forward,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
In the regular season, Rodon was 16-9 with a 3.96 ERA in 32 games (all starts).
Clark Schmidt is slated to start Game 3 when the series shifts to Cleveland on Thursday, followed by Luis Gil in Game 4 on Friday. Gil, who did not pitch in the ALDS, was scheduled to throw a simulated game on Sunday, per Boone.
After carrying 11 pitchers in the ALDS, Boone said the Yankees likely would add a pitcher or two against the Guardians, meaning Marcus Stroman could make the ALCS roster after sitting out the ALDS.
Alex Verdugo will remain the starting left fielder, per Boone. If active, rookie Jasson Dominguez will be used in a reserve role.
Anthony Rizzo sat out the ALDS after fracturing two fingers on his right hand late in the season but might be on the ALCS roster come Monday.
“(Rizzo) hasn’t done a lot physically, like baseball-wise,” Boone said. “He’s been letting that thing heal up as much as possible and doing a lot of treatments.”
Oswaldo Cabrera and Jon Berti shared first-base duties against the Royals.
Boone said DJ LeMahieu is “doing pretty well” after missing most of September with a right hip impingement and is working toward being ready to appear in the postseason.
The Guardians have yet to name their Game 1 starter.
