Yankees news: Four-man rotation to start the season

Tampa, Florida: New York Yankees' starting pitcher Luis Gil leaving the game against the NY Mets in the top of the 3rd inning during Spring Training at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida on February 21, 2026. (Photo by J. Conrad Williams, Jr.

/Newsday RM via Getty Images) | Newsday via Getty Images The Athletic | Chris Kirschner : (subscription required) Following yesterday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Yankees announced their rotation to start the season: Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, and Ryan Weathers. Notably absent, of course, was 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil. With the number of days off during the first week and a half of the season, the Yankees can get away with a four-man rotation the first two times through the order.

At this point, it’s unclear whether Gil — who has been working with Matt Blake to change the release point on his fastball, in the hopes of turning it back into the out pitch it was in the first half of 2024 — will break camp with the big league club, working as a piggyback behind Weathers, or with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, allowing the Yankees to bring an extra reliever. SNY. com | Alex Smith : Facing a roster crunch, the Yankees traded infielder Jorbit Vivas, who is out of options, to the Washington Nationals yesterday afternoon (as Michael covered for us ).

In exchange, they received pitching prospect Sean Paul Liñan (Washington’s 27th overall prospect, according to MLB Pipeline), who was acquired from the Dodgers in their Trade Deadline swing for Alex Call, and whose fastball is lacking but whose changeup has screwball-like qualities and has been compared to Devin William’s famous Airbender . MLB. com | Bryan Hoch : With Grapefruit League action coming to a close yesterday (the games today and tomorrow are, technically, not spring training matchups, but exhibitions), the Yankees announced this year’s James P.