The Yankees are moving Marcus Stroman to the bullpen and keeping Nestor Cortes in the rotation, manager Aaron Boone announced before Friday's game against the Boston Red Sox.
The manager said the move is not necessarily permanent as Stroman will move to the bullpen rather than make his next scheduled start on Sunday, the first day he will be available in relief. Left-hander Carlos Rodon is the Yanks' scheduled starter.
The move comes after Cortes’ solid outing on Thursday night against Boston, allowing one run on three hits and three walks over five innings with nine strikeouts. That extended his run of good form, allowing just seven earned over 29.2 innings.
“The reality is he’s been throwing the ball really well the last month,” Boone said. “He’s been throwing the ball really well for a while now and tonight was more of the same.”
Stroman, after dropping his ERA to 3.51 around the All-Star break, has not pitched well in the season’s second half. In his last four starts – despite tossing a solid seven innings against the Cardinals – he has pitched to a 5.57 ERA over 21 innings, surrendering 13 runs on 30 hits and six walks with 17 strikeouts.
Boone said the veteran right-hander took the news well.
"Stro has been so good for us and so good in the room,” Boone said, via Bryan Hoch. “He’s all about that team in there and all about the guys in there. Basically, his message to me is, ‘Whatever you need, and I’ll be ready to go.’ I think he just wants to be part of a winner.”
Cortes had expressed some frustration about his change in role, but when asked if he felt that he “deserved” to stay in the rotation, kept the focus on the team’s needs.
“As far as deserve, no. I’m just trying to go out there and throw as many zeroes as I can,” he said. "I know last week I might've came off like I was asking for too much, but I got my point across and at the end of the day I'm going to do whatever this team needs for me to do to win. Whether it’s throwing 40 pitches out of the ‘pen or 70 pitches out of the ‘pen or starting a full game.
“The goal we have it in sight and we are two weeks away and all we want to do is win ballgames and get to October. Whether it’s out of the bullpen or starting, I’m going to be here for the team.”
The left-hander had been moved to the bullpen last week, making a stellar appearance in relief of Clarke Schmidt, pitching 4.1 innings of scoreless baseball with a walk and three strikeouts at Wrigley Field.
The Yanks will now be back to a five-man rotation for the time being.