Entering last weekend’s high-profile series against the Dodgers, the Yankees had won seven straight series. So, while dropping two out of three against the defending world champs was deflating and — at times — demoralizing, the Yankees remain one of the hotter teams in baseball over the past month. With their West Coast road trip complete, the Yankees are back in the Bronx to begin a homestand by hosting the Cleveland Guardians for a three-game set. Let’s take a look at the probable starters for this mid-week series.

Tuesday: Carlos Rodón vs. Tanner Bibee (7:05 pm ET)

In the absence of Gerrit Cole and several other pitchers to start the season, much credit has (rightly) gone to Max Fried for holding down the fort. But Carlos Rodón has been nearly as effective, looking like the pitcher the Yankees were hoping to see when they signed him to a $162-million deal before the 2023 season. He held opponents scoreless in each of his past two outings, striking out 18 while walking just two in 13 innings.

On the season, he’s punching out batters at a higher clip than at any point during his Yankees tenure, recalling when he led all of baseball in strikeout rate the year before donning the pinstripes. The 32-year-old, who was in consideration to start Sunday’s series closer against the Dodgers on regular rest, was instead given a couple of extra days to recover after throwing over 100 pitches each of his last three times out.

He’ll face Tanner Bibee. The 26-year-old has been solid this season, if not as dynamic as in his first two campaigns, going 4-5 with a 3.86 ERA and a 50:21 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Last time out, he struggled against the Dodgers (several Yankees hurlers can relate), allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks in five innings of work. He did dominate the first-place Tigers with a seven-inning, no-run outing his previous time out, exemplary of the Jekyll-and-Hyde season he’s having.

Wednesday: Clarke Schmidt vs. Luis L. Ortiz (7:05 pm ET)

Clarke Schmidt recovered nicely his last time out following a frustrating outing in the high altitude of Denver’s Coors Field, holding the Angels off the board in six innings of work. After starting the year on the IL, he’s performed exactly to league average by ERA+. While he’s done a good job limiting hard contact, he’s seen his walk rate jump by a free pass per nine over last year’s breakout campaign. Opponents are slugging .424 off his cutter, the right-hander’s primary pitch, though most of his secondary pitches have been more effective.

He’s lined up to face Luis L. Ortiz. Acquired from the Pirates this offseason in the Spencer Horwitz deal, the righty has struggled, going 2-6 with a 4.40 ERA in 11 starts. Much of the damage has come off his cutter, against which opponents are slugging .727, though he’s thrown it just above 15 percent of the time this year. He’s also been vulnerable to the long ball, particularly against lefties, who have taken him deep five times in 108 at-bats.

He’s shown flashes of the stuff that excited the Guardians about him in the first place, punching out over a batter per inning, but has allowed far too many baserunners to succeed with consistency.

Thursday: Max Fried vs. Slade Cecconi (7:05 pm ET)

Max Fried finally had a subpar outing his last time out, allowing six runs and two homers in five innings of work. Of course, both of the long balls came off the bat of Shohei Ohtani, a fairly good hitter and, while the timing was a bit of a gut punch from a fan perspective, that appearance should do little to sully our image of Fried as the season rolls into June. After taking his first loss as a Yankee, the lefty still has a sub-2.00 ERA and has walked just 16 in 75 innings.

A former first-round pick, Slade Cecconi was ranked as the Diamondbacks’ second-best pitching prospect by MLB Pipeline heading into the 2021 season. His stock dropped over the ensuing seasons as he performed inconsistently in the minors and struggled in his first extended MLB opportunity last year, allowing 57 runs in 77 innings. After the season, the D-Backs shipped him off to Cleveland as the centerpiece that brought back Josh Naylor. He’s made three starts apiece at Triple-A and with the Guardians this year and has distinguished himself at neither level. Last Saturday, the Angels touched him up for five runs (on three homers) in just 4.1 innings. The right-hander features a mid-90s four-seamer — against which opponents are hitting .360 — alongside six complementary pitches.