SEATTLE — Aaron Boone said dropping Sonny Gray into the rotation Tuesday night against the Twins in Minneapolis is being done to give the other starters extra rest with the hope they are strong for October.
It also puts Luis Severino in position to make two starts against the AL East-leading Red Sox in the final two weeks of the season.
“I feel fine,’’ Severino said before the Yankees lost to the Mariners 3-2 on Sunday. “Now I am on pace to pitch against Boston twice.’’
At the All-Star break Severino would have been a lock to start the Oct. 3 AL wild-card game, which will likely be against the A’s. Now that isn’t a sure thing after an 11-game stretch in which Severino has gone 4-5 with a 6.83 ERA and hitters are batting .323 against him with a .934 OPS
J.A. Happ, who starts Monday against the Twins, and Masahiro Tanaka, who dominated the Mariners for eight innings Friday, have become serious options for Boone.
“We felt it buys everybody a little bit of rest at this time of the [year]. It actually buys him a couple of extra days,’’ Boone said of Tanaka, who will start Friday against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on six days’ rest. “With the couple of off days coming up [Thursday and next Monday] it is a chance to get everyone back-to-back turns an extra day here and there that will hopefully show its effects at the end of the season and on into the postseason.’’
Sent to the bullpen after giving up seven runs in 2 ²/₃ innings against the Orioles on Aug. 1, Gray has made one start since then and blanked the Orioles for 6 ¹/₃ innings Aug. 25. Since then, Gray has worked once, a four-inning relief outing against the Tigers on Sept. 2.
Gray was informed Saturday he would be starting against the Twins and threw a bullpen session to prepare for the start that could be his last of the season.
“I feel good. My outings may have had gaps in between them but I can do whatever is needed,’’ said Gray, who is 9-8 with a 5.24 ERA in 22 starts and 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in five relief outings. “I feel like I am throwing the ball well and continue to take steps in the right direction.’’
Since hitting his 300th career homer on Aug. 30, Giancarlo Stanton has gone cold at the plate. His 1-for-5 in Sunday’s loss to the Mariners stretched his slump to 4-for-33 (.121). The one hit was a bloop double that left fielder Cameron Maybin and shortstop Jean Segura failed to get together on.
Stanton also made the third out with the base loaded in the fourth by grounding to the right side.
Boone is hopeful All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman’s left knee is healthy enough to allow him to appear in some games before the AL wild-card game.
Chapman worked out on a treadmill and threw Saturday in Tampa.
“I don’t know when he is getting back on the mound [but] hopefully that is around the corner,’’ Boone said. “Hopefully there will be an opportunity for him to get a handful of outings before we get to October.’’
Gleyber Torres went 1-for-4 Sunday with all of his at-bats coming with runners in scoring position. He has a hit in 18 of the past 22 games and is batting .318 (28-for-88) in that stretch.
When the Yankees open their three-game series against the Twins on Monsay, it will mark the return of Didi Gregorius as the full-time shortstop.
Since coming off the DL on Friday, Gregorius has entered one game in the sixth inning, started another and left in the seventh and grounded out in the ninth inning of Sunday’s game as a pinch hitter.
“It was planned that [Sunday] would be an off day and we get to Minnesota and it should be back to an everyday situation. We prefer to have him in there but we have to [be] smart about it as well.’’
Gregorius is 0-for-6 in three games since returning from the DL.
