The Yankees Rotation Depth Inventory: September

Welcome back to the Yankees Rotation Depth Inventory.

As we enter the home stretch of the season, the Yankees have their top six starters healthy for the first time this season.

Luis Gil made his return from the IL yesterday with Clarke Schmidt slated to pitch tonight for the first time since May.

With that reality at hand, the predominant question is how the team will fit six starters into five rotation spots the rest of the regular season and, likely, four spots in the postseason.

Nonetheless, things can change quickly.

With the potential for injury, as well as the possibility of moving one of the Yankees starters to the bullpen full-time to prepare for a postseason role, theres still a chance that another starter will need to be called up for what would likely be a critical spot start in the seasons final weeks.

Several of the players whove recently received starts at Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre are not viable options.

Edgar Barclay and Tanner Tully have each started more than 20 games at Triple-A, but both have ERAs above six.

So does Josh Maciejewski, who hasnt made it through the fifth inning once all year.

Then theres Yoendrys Gomez who, after three different stints in the Yankees bullpen, is only stretched out to about 60 pitches and more of a candidate for relief depth.

That leaves three viable options should injury, a rotation reshuffling, or a scheduling shift require another starter in the mix.

Lets take a look at how each of the three is performing as the Yankees enter this crucial juncture.

Last out, first in.

Will Warren took five turns in the Yankees rotation from late July through the end of August, passing 90 pitches in three of his outings as he assumed a normal starters workload.

Theres no sugar-coating the results, as the right-hander went 0-3 with a 9.55 ERA before getting reassigned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Still, some of his peripheral numbers (4.57 FIP, 2.89 strikeout-to-walk ratio) suggest he pitched into at least some bad luck and wasnt as overmatched as his ERA would suggest.

Just as importantly, Warren should still be prepared, both physically and mentally, to re-enter a rotation that he just exited if called upon.

The Yankees No.

2 pitching prospect offers the highest upside of the three options and, while reliability is more valuable in a spot start, Warren could be the easiest choice in a pinch.

After missing over two months to injury, Cody Poteet has made four starts between Double-A and Triple-A since mid-August.

Hes performed well, pitching to a 2.25 ERA.

More importantly, Poteet has had the most success at the MLB level of the Yankees three depth options this year, going 3-0 with a 2.14 ERA in multiple stints filling in with the big-league club.

The biggest mark against the 30-year-old is whether hell be able to assume a starters workload, having maxed out at 56 pitches in his last outing.

However, when he was first called up for a spot start in April he had only thrown 70 pitches but jumped up to 77 in a masterful six-inning, one run outing in Cleveland.

Especially if he can fit in another start in which he pitches deeper into the game, Poteet has the potential to reestablish himself as the Yankees premier in case of emergency, break glass option.

The dark horse of the group, Thomas Pannone joined the Yankees in July after getting released by the Cubs .

The 30-year-old, who has a 5.46 ERA in 118.2 MLB innings and had not shown enough to remain a part of the Cubs Triple-A roster, has impressed in the Yankees system, going 4-1 with a 2.32 ERA in 42.2 innings while allowing just four free passes.

Hes also stretched out, having thrown 86 pitches in his last appearance.

That level of performance should give the Yankees some confidence that, if needed, Pannone could deliver a competitive outing against an MLB opponent.

With Gil and Schmidts return to the rotation, the Yankees can hope to be set on starters at the big-league level.

Nonetheless, if the injury bug strikes once again or one of the Yankees starters gets bounced to the bullpen for an extended period, they may need to call upon their depth at Triple-A once again.

Warren, Poteet, and Pannone offer different skill sets but each has MLB experience and has performed well at times this year.

Dont be surprised if one of them gets the chance to impact the Yankees before the regular season is through..

This article has been shared from the original article on pinstripealley, here is the link to the original article.