Sonny Gray’s time in the Yankees’ starting rotation may soon be over. Aaron Boone admits he’s thinking of making a change before his next start.
It’s distinctly possible that yesterday’s debacle against the Orioles might serve as Sonny Gray’s last start in a Yankees uniform. Let fans all over social media rejoice.
This isn’t idle speculation. Aaron Boone freely admitted after the 7-5 loss against the O’s that the Yankees brain trust needs to talk about what the team’s plans are “going forward.” That’s a significant departure from the team’s previous comments about Gray. It seems their patience with the enigmatic right hander is coming to an end.
It’s certainly possible they’ll give Gray a little more rope, but there are definitely dark clouds on the horizon of his career. The obvious question is who the Yankees might elect to put in his place. Boone specifically referenced the fact that the organization now has “options” to consider.
The most obvious move would be go move Lance Lynn into his rotation spot. He came on in relief of Gray in Baltimore and pitched 4 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. Lynn started 20 games for the Twins this season before arriving in the Bronx. He’s got the requisite experience to step in and contribute immediately. Lynn doesn’t have star potential, but the chances of him being more effective than Gray are quite large.
Luis Cessa is another legitimate option. He was the Yankees’ fifth starter immediately before the acquisition of J.A. Happ. That sent him back down to the minors, but he pitched rather well in his last several major league starts. Cessa was called back up to the majors to provide support for the Boston series this week.
The last, and most intriguing option, would be for the Yankees to finally take a chance on promoting top prospect Justus Sheffield. He’s the biggest risk of the three options, but he could provide the biggest payoff as well. Sheffield has struggled a bit with his command in AAA, but there’s no question he has the stuff to get major league hitters out. It’s unlikely that Brian Cashman wants to plug him into the rotation this season, but not impossible.
The important takeaway here is that the Yankees are now actively thinking about ways to replace Gray in the rotation. That hasn’t something the team has been willing to do before their flurry of deals at the trade deadline. At the very least, the pressure is on Gray to pick up his performance immediately if he doesn’t want his Yankees career to go down in flames.