Yankees moving Stroman to bullpen next week

NEW YORK (AP) — Marcus Stroman will be moved into the bullpen by the New York Yankees next week as they attempt to hold off Baltimore in a close race for the AL East crown.

New York has a day off Monday before beginning a six-game trip to Seattle and Oakland, so the Yankees will return to a five-man rotation. Nestor Cortes will be scheduled to start next time through instead of Stroman.

“He’ll be available for us out of the ‘pen probably Sunday and we’ll keep evaluating moving forward,” manager Aaron Boone said before Friday night’s 5-4 victory against Boston.

"I’ll try to put him in the best position, make sure we communicate well with him. He and I spoke yesterday about it. Nothing’s necessarily permanent, but with the off day coming I wanted to have us go five at least this time and maybe the next time around, too. We’ll see.”

It was Cortes who was the odd man out last week, when New York used five starters around an off day Sept. 5. The left-hander wasn't happy about the decision, but he pitched 4 1/3 hitless innings last Saturday against the Chicago Cubs in his first relief appearance since 2021. He earned the win in a 2-0 victory at Wrigley Field.

Without an off day off this week, Stroman and Cortes both pitched on turn as the Yankees went with six starters.

Stroman allowed three runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings Tuesday in a 5-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals. Cortes struck out nine over five innings in a no-decision Thursday against the Red Sox, permitting one run and three hits with three walks on 92 pitches.

Stroman is 10-8 with a 4.07 ERA in 28 starts during his first season with the Yankees. He has lost back-to-back outings after going 3-0 with a 2.35 ERA in his previous four.

“He’s one of the reasons we’re here," Boone said. “He’s gone to the post for us, taken all of his starts, won a lot of ballgames for us. I think one of the reasons we have a chance to get to the postseason is some of the consistency of our starting pitching, and on balance he’s done a really good job for us.”

The right-hander made two relief appearances for the Cubs last September, pitching on consecutive days after returning from a right hip injury. Besides that, the other six relief outings of his major league career all came during his first season in 2014 with Toronto.

“Stro’s been so good for us and so good in the room,” Boone said. “He’s all 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.”

Cortes is 9-10 with a 3.90 ERA in 29 starts and one relief appearance this year. He has given up 24 home runs, eight more than previous career high.

Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt recently returned from the injured list, giving the Yankees six healthy starters. New York has the best record in the American League at 86-62, three games ahead of the Orioles in the AL East.

“It’s just really about, we’re at that point of the year — difficult decisions to make,” Boone said. "And part of the reason they’re difficult decisions is because we have a lot of really good options that have made those difficult decisions. That’s where we’re at right now.”

New York has another day off Sept. 23 before hosting Baltimore and Pittsburgh to conclude the regular season, but Boone didn't commit to a rotation plan for the final week.

“I would say it’s kind of fluid,” he said.

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AP freelance writer Larry Fleisher contributed to this report.

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