OAKLAND, Calif. — Corey Kluber will make his long-awaited return to the rotation Monday against the Angels in Anaheim as the Yankees try to determine a pitching plan for their stretch run.
“It’s something we’re starting to work through,’’ Aaron Boone said of the Yankees’ upcoming 20-games-in-20-days stretch that begins following Thursday’s off day.
The Yankees might go with a sixth starter once or twice during the stretch, but they’ll also want to determine the best way to construct their pitching staff during that time.
Kluber is taking Andrew Heaney’s spot — at least for now — while Domingo German (shoulder) and Luis Severino (shoulder) are just starting to play catch, meaning they are a ways off from being potential options as starters.
The rotation has thrived lately despite the injuries, with Gerrit Cole continuing his superb season after being sidelined by COVID-19 and Jameson Taillon coming on strong after a rough start to his Yankee tenure.
Jordan Montgomery — Sunday’s starter — has been mostly excellent for the last month and Nestor Cortes Jr. has also been solid.
Luis Gil pitched 4 ²/₃ innings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and allowed three runs — striking out seven — as the Yankees try to keep his workload up while he’s without a spot in the majors.
Kluber will remain a question mark for the rest of the season due to the shoulder injuries that have sidelined him for significant portions of each of the past two seasons.
He’s not fully built up as a starter heading into Monday’s game against the Angels, but the right-hander said he’s been encouraged by how he’s felt and how his pitches have looked during his rehab outings.
“The health side of it, with the way I’ve felt out there and bouncing back, it puts your mind at ease that the injury isn’t an issue anymore,’’ Kluber said. “Then it’s going out there and executing pitches to different parts of the strike zone.”
Boone has also seen positive signs from Kluber during his comeback attempt after not having pitched since May 25 — one start removed from his no-hitter in Texas.
“The crispness of the stuff is there,’’ the manager said. “The whole time, he kept throwing, even early on [in the rehab process].”
Boone said the Yankees were “pretty conservative” with Kluber early in the rehab process and general manager Brian Cashman soon pointed to a possible September return after Kluber went down.
He’ll beat that by a day when he pitches Monday, but the Yankees remain more interested in how he performs when he’s out there.
“He gets a lot of movement on his pitches,’’ Boone said of what makes Kluber effective. “That’s been there. Now it’s just getting up against major league competition and getting his workload back up. Hopefully he can really impact us down the stretch.”
Kluber said he hasn’t altered his pre-start routine much even with having been on the injured list since May.
Heaney is expected to be in position to come in and provide some length after Kluber on Monday, as Kluber gets his pitch count up.
The Yankees took a chance on Kluber on a one-year, $11 million deal in the offseason after he rehabbed from the shoulder strain a year ago that limited him to one inning with the Rangers in 2020.
The early returns seemed promising, culminating in the no-hitter in Texas, but it didn’t last long.
And despite the setback Kluber suffered so soon after the milestone, Boone doesn’t anticipate treating him much differently as he get built back up.