ARLINGTON, Texas — Gerrit Cole came to the Yankees to be the ace of the staff, but the right-hander acknowledged Monday that Nestor Cortes deserves to be in the conversation to start the first game of the playoffs in The Bronx.
“There’s certainly some merit to that,” Cole said Monday of Cortes putting himself in the discussion to pitch Game 1.
And Cole said he’d be fine with it.
“I just want to win,” Cole said. “We haven’t talked about it, but I’m not assuming anything. I’m not here to be the ‘Game 1 guy’ and be worried about that. I’m just here to do my job. Whatever they ask me to do.”
Pitching coach Matt Blake said the team hasn’t mapped out a plan for the playoffs yet, waiting instead to see how the rotation finishes up the regular season, as well as what team the Yankees face in the ALDS.
“I wouldn’t say we’ve had any substantive conversations about it yet,” Blake said before the Yankees won the opener of their final series of the regular season against the Rangers, 3-1, at Globe Life Field.
“It could be Nestor or Gerrit,” Blake said.
This is seemingly a turn of events. Manager Aaron Boone said Cole would be the Game 1 starter while speaking with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman on The Post’s “The Show” podcast Sept. 20.
“Yeah, Cole would be,” Boone said at the time. “And we feel great about Nestor obviously too. And hopefully [Luis Severino] getting back here and getting a few starts under his belt here at the back end, put him in that mix too. We’ve got a couple weeks to go there and we’ve got to see how we get there and how we get in. Those things always affect how you line things up. But hopefully we’re in a position to line it up how we want.”
The schedule could also play a role in the decision, since there is a day off after Games 1 and 2, but that’s it for the series.
That might make it difficult for the Game 2 starter to also start Game 5, but Cole was confident he’d be able to do it.
“We’ll take inventory with where everybody is at after the [regular] season,’’ Blake said.
While Cole has not been as sharp of late, having pitched to a 5.79 ERA, with eight homers allowed and an opposing OPS of .791 in his last four starts, he’s confident he’s not far off.
“I think we’ve gained some traction the last couple times,” Cole said. “I just have to keep my demeanor, keep the composure and keep us in the game.”
And it doesn’t matter which game it is.
“It takes everybody to win,” Cole said. “That’s the name of the game in the postseason. We all have the same goal. My goal is to win in the playoffs. That’s all I want.”
In contrast to Cole’s recent outings, Cortes has been nearly unhittable.
In his last six outings, Cortes has a 1.35 ERA in 33 ¹/₃ innings with 35 strikeouts and has only given up one run with an opposing OPS of .390.
Blake called Cortes’ season “incredible.”
“Just the way he’s handled the grind of the season,” Blake said. “There were questions about whether he could sustain the success the whole season. The [quad] injury took him down for a bit, but for the most part, he’s gotten stronger as the year has gone on. He’s been so consistent. He attacks the zone and he’s not scared.”
One of the advantages the Yankees have in wrapping up the AL East title early is the ability to have nearly a week off so they can rest and set up their rotation however they want.
It’s clear the first three starters will be Cole, Cortes and Severino, with Jameson Taillon a possibility as a fourth starter.
And with the Yankees’ bullpen a mess due to injuries and ineffectiveness, the rotation becomes that much more important.