The subject can be interpreted a few ways: Who is next in line to be injured, or who is next in line to fill in the rotation? I am tackling the latter - at this point, it doesn't even matter who gets injured or when they do.
The Yankees have remarkably gone through ten starters already: Tanaka, Sabathia, Nova, Pineda, Kuroda (still standing!), Phelps, Nuno, Whitley, McCarthy, and Greene have all made starts before the All-Star Break, and an 11th starter is going to be needed at some point.
The Yankees do not need to make this decision soon. With the All Star Break coming, they can use a committee approach (lead by Huff or Whitley) on Sunday in Baltimore (that should be a treat to watch) to fill in for Tanaka - then, of course, they can wait until the 5th game after the break to actually name a new starter.
That starter could be Whitley again, but I have to say I was impressed with his relief outing on Wednesday. He worked quickly to gain six outs, and it just seems that is where he belongs. It could be Huff, but in that same game, he came in and walked the bases loaded.
If it is neither one, the Yankees have a few options as usual: Make a trade or dig even deeper into their system. No matter what we think about the 2014 Yankees, the pitching has not been the biggest disaster. That in itself is a miracle given how deep they have needed to go.
The Yankees could turn to Adam Warren, using him as a starter on Sunday for 2-3 innings to start stretching him out for a more prominent rotation role in the second half of the season. I don't think this is the way they are going to lean. Anyone who suggests Dellin Betances needs to first get their head examined, then start watching another sport.
Who is next in line in the minors? The pickings are very slim. They can go with veteran retreads like Bruce Billings or Chad Leroux, but neither is exciting...and more importantly perhaps, neither is any good. You would only use them because you don't feel you have any more young pitchers who are ready to go.
Beyond that, the group of possibilities includes Nik Turley (Still rehabbing an arm injury), Matt Tracy (An interesting LHP who doesn't strike many people out, but generates a lot of ground balls while featuring a fastball in the low 90s), Bryan Mitchell (a pure stuff guy who has yet to translate it into actual results on the field), and Zach Nuding (Pitching well in Trenton, but got crushed in Scranton), Manny Banuelos is still not stretched out and is not a possibility at this time, and probably not for 2014.
So, who would I go with from this group? If I am keeping Whitley in the bullpen and have no faith in Huff as a starter, I would probably have to choose Tracy - he's left-handed, developed, and can at least give the Yankees a look to see if he can be a contender for a rotation spot in 2015. They are already essentially auditioning Greene, so why not try to audition another while they are at it?
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