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LAKELAND, Fla. — Last year, the Yankees had 15 different starting pitchers — and only three started 20 games.
So while they map out their roster and rotation — with Gerrit Cole at the top, likely followed by Jordan Montgomery, Jameson Taillon, Luis Severino and Nestor Cortes Jr. — that’s just the beginning.
They remain open to adding a starting pitcher, though the market has cooled on Oakland’s Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea.
But with two weeks left until Opening Day — and with two extra roster spots available to start the year due to the MLB lockout — there could be room for a young arm like Luis Gil or even Clarke Schmidt, who started Thursday for the Yankees against the Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium.
The right-hander threw two scoreless innings in a 5-3, seven-inning rain-shortened loss, already off to a better start than a year ago, when a strained elbow sidelined him during the spring and kept Schmidt out for a significant chunk of the season.
“I was excited coming into last year, throwing good,’’ Schmidt said after his first Grapefruit League start of the spring. “I had high expectations and then I got hurt. I stepped back and reevaluated how I approached the offseason and made a lot of changes. I feel a lot better and feel healthy.”
It’s left the 26-year-old with one thing in mind this spring.
“My goal is to try to make the Opening Day roster,’’ Schmidt said. “I want to fight for one of the spots to help us early on and help us down the stretch, as well.”
Because like others, he’s seen what a team needs to get through a major league season.
“It’s very rare a team uses just five starters,’’ Schmidt said. “We know how the season works. At some point, your name is gonna get called. You hope it’s sooner rather than later.”
That’s where Schmidt and Gil — and perhaps Deivi Garcia — could come in.
Garcia was encouraged by his performance on Wednesday night at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, when he also threw a pair of shutout innings.
After altering his mechanics in the offseason, Garcia’s velocity is up slightly, but the real issue with Garcia has been his command.
“It was a good way to start,’’ Garcia said Thursday through an interpreter.
Catcher Kyle Higashioka remains encouraged by what he saw from Gil last season.
“Everyone I’ve seen has great stuff,’’ Higashioka said. “It’s about, ‘How well can you locate and throw strikes?’ It’s about, ‘Can you attack the zone well enough to have confidence to get big league hitters out?’ ”
One young pitcher did it better than anyone in 2021, according to Higashioka.
“Luis Gil did it really well last year,’’ Higashioka said. “The best thing he did was pound the zone. He throws 98 [mph] and has a good slider. I wouldn’t say he has above average command, by any means, but he threw strikes.”
Gil pitched well over his six starts — essentially filling the role Garcia was expected to have.
The Yankees still view all three pitchers as starters, even if they may appear at times out of the bullpen this year.
Manager Aaron Boone said he expects all of them to be ready to be called upon in a variety of roles.
“We feel a lot of guys in the room … expect to compete and contribute, whether it’s right away or at different points of the year,’’ Boone said of the pitchers. “I do believe one of the strengths of our organization is some of the pitching we have at the higher levels.”
That includes Schmidt.
“There’s no question in my mind he’s a starter,’’ Boone said. “It’s just about command and if he can be a big league starter strike-thrower.”
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