Each month in the Rotation Depth Inventory, we take stock of the Yankees’ options to step in and start in the event of an opening in the rotation. At the July 31st Trade Deadline, the Yankees were linked to several arms but ended up standing pat in a market that didn’t see many notable starters moved, sticking with rookies Will Warren and Cam Schlittler in the wake of a season-ending injury to Clarke Schmidt. Luis Gil made his season debut a few days later, adding some much-needed upside to the Yankees’ staff as they strove to end a skid that’s dropped them out of first place. Ryan Yarbrough also began a rehab assignment Thursday, through manager Aaron Boone has acknowledged the team is unsure whether they’ll build the veteran out to start or move him to the bullpen once healthy.
With the Trade Deadline behind us and the Yankees’ roster largely set, let’s take a look at the the team’s top starting rotation options in the minors should the big-league club need someone to fill in.
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Allan Winans
It’s been a Jekyll-and-Hyde season for Allan Winans. At Triple-A, he’s 10-0 with an 1.20 ERA, tops among all minor leaguers at any level with at least 50 innings pitched. With the Yankees? He’s allowed 11 runs (nine earned) and 18 baserunners across 9.1 innings.
What to do with a pitcher who dominates at Triple-A but can’t get outs at the big-league level? For now, the answer is clear — Winans is back down in Scranton, the big fish in the small pond once again. But, if a rotation spot opens up, it’s hard to imagine the Yankees elevating anyone other than Winans to take it — in part because of his success at Triple-A and in part because he’s the only minor-league starter on the Yankees’ 40-man roster.
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Kenta Maeda
Kenta Maeda has taken a circuitous road to Scranton. After finishing second in AL Cy Young voting in the shortened 2020 season, he struggled the following season before missing the 2022 campaign to injury. The veteran signed a two-year, $24 million deal with the Tigers during the 2023-24 offseason but was completely overmatched, posting a 6.58 ERA in 120.1 innings over parts of two seasons before getting released in early May. He got picked up by the Cubs, but his results at Triple-A Iowa have been no better (5.97 ERA through 12 starts). After they cut him as well, he latched on with the Yankees’ organization earlier this month. His first outing with the RailRiders was a success, with the right-hander allowing one unearned run over six innings.
Now 37 and with an extended track record of struggles over the past five seasons, Maeda will need to show more than that before the Yankees trust him in their rotation. Still, a few more strong starts could bring Maeda into play as a depth option, à la Carlos Carrasco.
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Brendan Beck
After a promising debut at Triple-A, Brendan Beck has run into some trouble. The right-hander, drafted in the second round by the Yankees back in 2021 out of Stanford, imploded for eight runs in four innings on July 24th, inflating his ERA and hurting his stock. Without that outing, he’s had a respectable 3.35 ERA over eight starts — though, of course, any starter’s stats would be helped by removing their worst appearance of the season. The 2021 second-rounder’s peripherals (88 strikeouts and 12 walks in 44.1 Triple-A innings) don’t wow, either. For Beck, the Yankees’ No. 12 prospect who turns 27 in October and has battled injuries as a pro, it’s make-or-break time.
Carlos Lagrange
I usually restrict this list to Triple-A starters, but I’d be remiss not to include Carlos Lagrange, a fast riser in the Yankees’ system. The team’s number-two prospect is still at Double-A after starting the season at High-A, making promotion to the big leagues this year a long shot. But Lagrange has struck out 74 batters in 55 innings at Somerset (albeit while allowing 33 walks).
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To be sure, it would take a lot for the 22-year-old to make it to the Yankees, particularly while their rotation features two other rookies. But, with other options at Triple-A thinning out, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Yankees could look to the talented youngster to step in if they experienced multiple rotation injuries at the MLB level. It’s just quite unlikely.
As the Yankees evaluate whether to reinsert Yarbrough into the rotation, Winans appears to be the clear-cut choice to fill in if the team needs a spot start in the interim. The other pitchers on this list have an opportunity in the coming weeks to take a step forward and insert themselves more forcefully in the conversation should a rotation injury arise down the stretch.