The New York Yankees are ready to fight to return to the World Series. After falling short in the Division Series in the 2025 season, manager Aaron Boone has reconfigured his pitching rotation to just four starters for the season that begins this Wednesday.
Although the Yankees have made the playoffs in eight of the last 10 seasons, they have only reached the World Series once, in 2024, and to make matters worse, they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Trying to maintain the team’s dominance in the American League East and to compensate for the absences of his injured pitchers, Boone decided to open the 2025 season with only four starters.
With the opening game against the San Francisco Giants just three days away, Boone revealed a rotation that blends experience and youth.
Boone’s rotation to start the 2026 MLB season
According to MLB.com writer Bryan Hoch:
The Yankees will begin the season with a 4-man rotation. Max Fried, Cam Schlitler, Will Warren, Ryan Weathers, in that order.
Fried will start the opening game for the second consecutive year and, according to Boone’s plan, will be ready to return to the mound for Game 4 against the Seattle Mariners.
Hoch noted that the Yankees have two off days at the start of the season, and maintaining a four-man rotation keeps everyone on the schedule.
However, the analyst pointed out that there is still one question mark in the New York bullpen: Luis Gil’s place in the system Boone is implementing.
Gil will return to the rotation when the schedule gets tighter
Clutch Points analyst Christopher Hennessy speculated that Gil could stay in Florida to continue his development before joining the team in early April.
He noted that Gil, the 2014 Rookie of the Year, and Weathers struggled to adjust during spring training.
But with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon still recovering, the Yankees’ young pitchers will need to step up as soon as possible.
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