Yankees' Opening Day starting pitcher mystery solved with latest announcement

The New York Yankees entered Spring Training with an Opening Day starter already decided. Reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, Gerrit Cole, the right-hander who has started each of the last four Opening Days for the Yankees, was going to take the ball once again. Unfortunately, their plans changed.

Cole suffered an elbow injury which will sideline him for at least the first one or two months of the 2024 campaign. It could've been worse, but it's far from convenient.

Cole being unavailable for Opening Day raised the question of who would take the ball for Aaron Boone's Yankees when they began their season in Houston against their rivals, the Astros. It certainly wasn't going to be Marcus Stroman as he didn't want his schedule tinkered with. The Yankees didn't want to deal with tinkering with the oft-injured Carlos Rodon's schedule either.

With those being the two best options at Boone's disposal, who was going to start? Seriously, nobody knew, not even the manager.

Yankees Opening Day starter finally revealed less than two weeks before Opening Day

Nestor Cortes Jr. will take the ball for the Yankees when they begin their season in Houston. It's far from their first choice as Cortes is probably their No. 4 starter when everyone is healthy, but at least he's a fun watch, right?

When right, Cortes can be an All-Star. In fact, he was an All-Star back in 2022. This past season was a rough one for the crafty southpaw who had a 4.97 ERA in 12 starts and 63.1 innings of work, but he was never quite right all season. Now, Cortes seems to be ready to roll and will face a huge challenge right away with a loaded Astros lineup waiting for him.

The options Boone had at his disposal to take the ball for Opening Day seemed to be Cortes, Clarke Schmidt, or a bullpen game. Honestly, Yankees fans can just breathe a sigh of relief that they don't have to watch their team burn the entire 'pen in game No. 1 of the season.

This situation is far from ideal for New York, but they're not the only team dealing with injuries. The team they're facing, the Astros, will be without their presumed Opening Day starter, Justin Verlander, who will also begin the season on the IL.