How did Yankees' rainout change pitching rotation?

by Felix Pantaleon

Yankees manager Aaron Boone is forced to alter his pitching rotation slightly due to the postponement of the game on Thursday, May 31, 2018 (5/31/18) against the Orioles at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Md.

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BALTIMORE — Back it up.

The Yankees decided to push back their rotation a day following Thursday’s rainout against the Orioles at Camden Yards.

Sonny Gray was scheduled to start Thursday. Instead, he’ll start Friday.

Masahiro Tanaka will move from Friday to Saturday. Domingo German will go from Saturday to Sunday. On MLB.com’s Yankees probable pitchers page, CC Sabathia is slated to start the first game of Monday’s doubleheader in Detroit.

Updating Yankees prospects

The Yankees haven’t said who will start the second game of the doubleheader. They also haven’t announced Tuesday’s starting pitcher for the first game of the series in Toronto.

It would seem likely that the Yankees would use an emergency sixth starter for the nighttime portion of the doubleheader.

That’s because both teams will be granted a 26th player, per MLB doubleheader rules.

Because of that, the Yankees wouldn’t have to pull a player off the 25-man roster to make room for the extra starter for the night game. That means nobody gets demoted, designated for assignment — nothing. It’s the path of least resistance.

Journeyman David Hale seems the most likely pick to serve as the sixth starter. Hale gave up one run in 6 1/3 innings at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday. He lines up perfectly to pitch Monday.

Other options include two top prospects — Justus Sheffield and Chance Adams — Josh Rogers, an under-the-radar prospect performing well at Triple-A, and Adam Warren, whom manager Aaron Boone all but ruled out before Thursday’s rainout. Boone said the team would prefer to use a traditional starter instead of option for Warren, a former starter-turned-reliever.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.