With Gerrit Cole out, who will be the Yankees starter for Opening Day?

Breaking a tradition is difficult for anybody. For the New York Yankees, it is tantamount to treason. No team in the world has more invested in maintaining tradition than the Bronx Bombers.

For the past five seasons, the Opening Day pitcher has been Gerrit Cole. And the fortunes of both Cole and the pinstripes have been generally favorable. They have not always gotten their way, falling in the post season, reeling under the pressure of external forces, but overall, it has been a situation that warrants repeating. A tradition.

But, alas, it is not to be. The reigning Cy Young winner is out for at least a month, perhaps two, with elbow pain. Cole has flown out to Los Angeles to have Dr Neal ElAttrache, the same doctor who performed Shohei Ohtani’s surgery just before the World Series, look at it, and while it does not look currently as if there is a tear in the ligament, it seems that at some point Cole will have to address this elephant in the room.

As a team, and fan base, prone to seeing portents of evil around every corner, in every shadow, and in every variation from the norm, this situation with Cole stirs up some uneasy feelings. Last season, the Yankees looked for all the world like contenders until Aaron Judge crashed into a wall and spent time on the injured list. That one act, despite Cole pitching an incredible season, was enough to derail their post season. Now Judge is back, and Old Faithful in Cole is out.

Discussion in the media turned to just who would start for the Yankees against the Astros on Opening Day. Many thought that it would be Marcus Stroman, until Stroman himself put that rumor to rest, saying that it definitely will not be him on the mound.

“I think I’m gonna end up staying in my position [in the rotation] just because it’s too late in the year now to kind of get on track for Opening Day. I think they thought that I was going to be like, ‘Hey, let me get it.’ But that’s not my nature, man. Doesn’t matter to me. I’m confident in whoever goes out there from this squad to get the job done. And at the end of the day, it’s just another Game. So I’m not someone who’s going to be upset if I don’t get the Opening Day nod.”

Such definitives are less forthcoming from Yankees skipper Aaron Boone, who is playing his cards very close to his chest. “I’ve decided who’s starting. I just want to let a few more days go off the clock just because a lot can happen still.”

This was in response to a question of whether the starter on Opening Day will be Nestor Cortes or Clarke Schmidt. Other names bandied about in the media are Luke Weaver, Will Warren, Clayton Beeter, Luis Gil, and Cody Poteet. It seems that without Cole to rely on, Boone is keeping his options wide open.