While visions of a wild-card playoff preview have danced in fans’ heads this week as the Twins visit Yankee Stadium, Joe Girardi made it clear Tuesday there’s still a bigger goal at hand.
The manager bumped Luis Severino up a game in the rotation, allowing the right-hander to start three more times in the regular season — beginning with Wednesday’s series finale — if needed as the Yankees chase the Red Sox for an AL East crown.
“Our goal is still to win the division,” Girardi said. “We have clinched nothing at this point. We still have a lot of work to do in front of us. It gives us the ability to start him three more times.’’
The Yankees entered Tuesday three games behind Boston in the East and with a five-game cushion on the Twins for the first wild-card spot. With 12 games remaining on the schedule, any combination of 10 Red Sox wins or Yankees losses would eliminate the Bombers from the AL East race.
The club had told Severino to be ready to pitch Wednesday — which he will do on regular rest — and notified him Monday that he’d start the finale. The 23-year-old is ready for the challenge.
“If I had to choose, I’d choose [Wednesday],” Severino said. “I like to pitch [every] five days. … I feel like I try to overthrow [pitching on extra rest] so I like five days more.”
Masahiro Tanaka was originally scheduled to start Wednesday.
While three more starts in the regular season would eliminate Severino from pitching a potential wild-card playoff game, Girardi said he could adjust the rotation again if the postseason picture cleared up.
But if the Yankees enter the final day of the regular season with a shot at winning the AL East, Severino would be available to toe the rubber. He also could be in line to start a one-game playoff with the Red Sox to determine the AL East champ if they finished the regular season tied — a game that would be held in The Bronx courtesy of the Yankees’ 11-8 record against the Sox this season.
“We can adjust things because we have six starters and do what we feel is the right thing to do, but right now he will start [Wednesday],” Girardi said.
Severino, who holds a 2.09 ERA in 12 starts since the All-Star break, said he would be more than happy to start the wild-card game after watching it from the bullpen as a rookie in 2015, when the Yankees fell to the Astros 3-0.
But he also has the bigger picture in mind.
“Like I always say, if they need me, I’ll be happy to be there,” Severino said. “But we have a lot of good guys here. If we win the wild-card game, maybe they’d need me for the first game of the [American League Division] series.”
Wednesday will mark Severino’s first time facing Minnesota in his career. He faced the Angels, out of the wild-card race by 1 1/2 games, earlier this season and allowed five earned runs over six innings.
Being able to pitch against the Twins, then, before a potential playoff matchup could help.
“Of course,” Severino said. “I can see their weakness and I can face other hitters and see what I can do. When I face them tomorrow, we’ll see what happens so I can have a plan if we go to the wild-card game.”