Chris Capuano was expected to be the fifth starter in the New York Yankees rotation, but he suffered a Grade 2 quad strain two weeks ago and is expected to miss the first month of the regular season. Who will manager Joe Girardi choose to take his spot?
Right now the frontrunners to get the job are Esmil Rogers and Adam Warren, according to Erik Boland of Newsday, and the long-shot candidates are Chase Whitley, Scott Baker and Bryan Mitchell. Girardi said the decision isn't atop his list of priorities, but it could come "by the end of this week."
Check out the spring stats for each candidate below:
Esmil Rogers - 2.92 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and 11 Ks in six games (four starts), totaling 12 1/3 innings
Adam Warren - 2.77 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and six Ks in four starts (13 innings)
Chase Whitley - 0.82 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and five Ks in five games (one start), totaling 11 innings
Scott Baker - 4.32 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and seven Ks in three games (one start), totaling 8 1/3 innings
Bryan Mitchell - 7.36 ERA, 2.18 WHIP and six Ks in three games (two starts), totaling 7 1/3 innings
Despite having poor stats thus far in spring training and only three MLB games under his belt, Mitchell has yet to be ruled out of the consideration. Girardi sees something in the youngster and it's not out of the question that Mitchell grabs the final rotation spot if he can finish spring training strong.
"This is a young man with good stuff," Girardi told Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com. "It's learning how to pound the strike zone with that good stuff and learning how to put guys away that is going to be a factor for him. I think this kid's got a pretty high ceiling, I do. There's stuff there."
The 23-year-old reached Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2014 and maintained a 3.67 ERA and 1.464 WHIP in nine games (eight starts). That earned him the call to the 40-man roster in September, where he pitched three games (one start) for New York and finished 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 11 total innings.
However, he faces tough competition because Rogers and Baker have extensive experience in the MLB while Warren and Whitley have served on the Yankees pitching staff for at least a full season.
"We talked about it yesterday some,'' Girardi said of the impending decision. "We're still going to let it play out. As we said, we're going to evaluate their last couple of starts.''