Taillon set for a career first in ALDS: pitching in relief

NEW YORK -- Jameson Taillon spent the 2022 season as a valuable member of the Yankees’ rotation. But for the club to reach its goals this postseason, New York has determined that his best fit will be in the bullpen.

Manager Aaron Boone on Sunday announced the Yanks’ three-man rotation of Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino, in that order, ahead of Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Guardians on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

That left Taillon as the odd man out despite his 14-5 record and 3.91 ERA in 32 starts, with 151 strikeouts against only 32 walks, and despite the fact he has not appeared as a reliever in his six-year MLB career. Notable, too, is that the 30-year-old right-hander’s first victory of the season came against Cleveland on April 22, when he threw five innings of one-run ball.

Though the Yankees had not set their ALDS roster before the team’s workout Monday evening, Boone acknowledged that the bullpen has been “finalized” and that the club sees Taillon playing a versatile role in it.

“I think he could be anything from a long reliever to closing the game,” Boone said. “I mean, I think he’s in play for anything.”

That’s the mentality the Yankees have taken with their relief corps as a whole entering the series, with a plan to use all of their hurlers in a variety of game scenarios. It’s a situation that has arisen partly out of necessity.

A unit that ranked third in the Majors with a 2.97 ERA in the regular season, behind only the top-seeded Astros (2.80) and NL-best Dodgers (2.87), has been hit hard by injuries for much of the year. Right-hander Chad Green has been out since late May, righty Michael King has been down since late July and left-hander Zack Britton missed most of the year before he was sidelined again after a last-ditch attempt to return during the final week of the season went awry.

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That’s only where it starts, however.

Prized Trade Deadline acquisition Frankie Montas, who might have challenged for one of those rotation spots or pushed the club to go with a four-man rotation, has been shelved since mid-September and would likely return only in a relief capacity should New York advance. Standout rookie reliever Ron Marinaccio will be unavailable after a stress reaction in his right shin landed him on the injured list last week. And veteran lefty Aroldis Chapman is no longer in play after missing a mandatory workout last week.

Still, the Yankees believe they have enough quality pitchers at their disposal to offset those losses.

“I’m really confident in who we have down there,” Boone said. “Obviously, we don’t have necessarily the traditional roles or the roles going into postseasons that we have had, but we feel like we have a number of guys down there throwing the ball well and capable of getting huge outs.

“Hopefully we can get them into situations and parts of the lineup where they have the best chance to be successful.”

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Lefty Wandy Peralta and righty Clay Holmes are expected to be activated off the IL to rejoin the Yanks for the series, and they will be called upon to contribute in high-leverage situations, along with righty Jonathan Loáisiga. Righties Lou Trivino and Scott Effross, both midseason acquisitions, will likely be depended on in key moments, as well.

Domingo Germán, who pitched to a 3.61 ERA in 15 outings (14 starts) in the second half of the season after returning from injury, is expected to join Taillon in the bullpen, where he can similarly add a long relief dimension. Lucas Luetge, Clarke Schmidt and Greg Weissert presumably also will factor into the Yankees’ plans.

“It takes everyone during the season, and you’re going to have to get some level of contribution from everyone in the postseason if you’re going to reach your goals,” Boone said. “So these guys are all prepared. Everyone that’s on there is ready to go and looking forward to just taking our shot.”

True as that may be, the Yankees are under no illusions about where they stand and how they stack up. As is often the case in the postseason, their starting pitchers will almost certainly determine their fate in this series -- and beyond.

“One of the things I feel really good about is I think our starters match up well with everyone in the playoffs’ starters,” Boone said. “I feel like if we are going to go deep in this and if we are going to win a championship, I think it’s because our starters pitched really well and probably pitched deep into some games.”