DJ LeMahieu isn’t sure if he’d be able to play in the ALDS due to a right foot injury, but he is certain of one thing.
“Going into the postseason, this is the best starting rotation we’ve had here in my four years,’’ LeMahieu said. “I feel like our starters can match up with anybody.”
The question Aaron Boone, his staff and the front office must answer before the Yankees open the ALDS on Tuesday in The Bronx against the winner of the Guardians-Rays wild-card series is: “Who goes first?”
After first telling The Post’s baseball podcast “The Show with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman” that Gerrit Cole would start the first playoff game, Boone has backtracked a bit.
On Wednesday, when asked if his mind had changed regarding the Game 1 starter, Boone said: “It hasn’t changed. I just want to make sure that’s the way I want to go.”
On top of that, pitching coach Matt Blake — and even Cole — said the subject was worth a debate, given how well Nestor Cortes pitched down the stretch.
And others, including some executives and scouts from opposing teams, said Luis Severino should start Tuesday.
An argument could be made for and against all three.
Most notable is the fact that over Cole’s final five starts of the regular season, he allowed 17 earned runs — and nine homers — in 29 ¹/₃ innings. That came to an unsightly ERA of 5.22 and capped a disappointing second half for the Yankees’ ace.
On the flip side, Cole has shown flashes of what makes him at times among the best pitchers in the game.
Boone said Wednesday he’d like to have the Game 1 starter determined by the weekend so everyone would be able to begin their pregame routine.
If he were to wait until the Yankees know their opponent, Cole might have another advantage, as he has been especially dominant against the Rays this season, who lost to Cleveland in the first game of their wild-card series on Friday.
In four starts versus Tampa Bay, Cole allowed just three runs over 25 ¹/₃ innings (1.07 ERA). His numbers against the Guardians were more pedestrian (and similar to Cortes’): two runs in 12 ²/₃ innings in two games.
Cortes has been the most consistent starter in the Yankees’ rotation. Unlike Cole, he finished in fine fashion. Over his final six starts, the left-hander gave up just five runs — and one homer — in 33 ¹/₃ innings.
He gave up nine runs in 24 ²/₃ innings versus Tampa Bay and three runs in 12 ¹/₃ innings against Cleveland, to go along with a microscopic WHIP of 0.49.
But while Cole has made 14 postseason starts in his career, whenever Cortes does take the mound in this series, it will be the 27-year-old’s first playoff appearance.
And then there’s Severino, who has had three starts since coming back from a strained lat and has shown he can be as overpowering as any pitcher in the game.
Severino allowed three runs in 16 innings in those starts and closed it out with seven no-hit frames against the Rangers in his last outing.
He also has pitched in nine playoff games — with eight starts.
And when (or if) Jameson Taillon starts will also need to be determined.
Whatever the order, with a beaten-up bullpen, the Yankees will be relying heavily on their rotation.
