Yankees reverse decision on Nestor Cortes, move struggling starter to the bullpen

At this point in the season, the New York Yankees are in a strange position. They have six good starters who are fit and ready to go every five days.

It’s really rare for these things to happen. Due to illness and unexpected underperformance, most teams are having a hard time putting together a competitive rotation. Some of them only have replacement-level players available.

They have three All-Stars (Nestor Cortes, Marcus Stroman, and Carlos Rodon), a Cy Young winner (Gerrit Cole), and two young starts on the rise (Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt) ready to go.

Last weekend, Cortes (3.90 ERA) was sent to the relief, which he didn’t like.It looks like they are using some kind of rotation method to skip a start now and then. For example, Stroman (4.07 ERA) will not be pitching this week when he was supposed to, but his turn was supposed to be next week.

Stroman is having the most trouble out of the six hurlers who are in the rotation. After a good first half, he hasn’t been as good since the second half, with an ERA of 5.45 in his last seven games.

He could use a break, and the Yankees think he did. Manager Aaron Boone said he took the news well.