MLB

Hughes or Nova likely odd man out of Yankees rotation

Joe Girardi insists he hasn’t made any decisions on his rotation, but the manager said he should have some answers today as the Yankees start a road trip in Chicago.

He’s faced with having to either pick between struggling incumbent Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova, or go with a six-man rotation. The latter is unlikely since CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett prefer normal rest.

“We just talked about maybe tweaking our rotation a little bit. Do you give guys an extra day?” Girardi asked rhetorically. By the sound of it, he seemed to be putting more stock into Hughes’ 18-8 campaign last year than his 1-3, 8.24 ERA struggles this season, or even Nova’s 9-4, 4.01 ERA breakout.

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“You’re evaluating [Hughes] on his last three or four starts,” Girardi said. “We believe that this guy still has a huge upside; he won 18 games last year, and we want to see him continue to make progress. How many guys won 18 games in the AL last year? Not too many. We have to continue to evaluate him, if we think he’s going in the right direction.

“Are you going to base a guy’s year on his last four starts? You’re just throwing away what he did last year. His stuff in the last [start] was closer to where it was last year. I’m not ready just to throw away what he did last year.”

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The Yankees stood pat at the deadline for the first time since 1998, a sign of how highly general manager Brian Cashman values his top prospects, especially Manny Banuelos. The 20-year-old lefty was promoted from Double-A Trenton — where he was 4-5 with a 3.59 ERA — to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He starts tomorrow in Scranton, and Cashman wouldn’t rule out a late-season call-up.

“We’ll see. It is time for him to make the next step, go to the next level. He’s obviously got ability the whole industry has taken note of,” said Cashman, who also gushed over catcher Jesus Montero, who is hitting .283 with 10 homers and 48 RBIs at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

“He has a chance to be a middle-of-the-lineup offensive force in the league for years,” Cashman said. “Put it this way: If Montero was traded this [year], he would’ve been the best player going of any [prospect.]”

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Backup catcher Francisco Cervelli played second base for the first time in his career, recording an out on a grounder in his only chance yesterday before being replaced by Robinson Cano in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ 4-2 victory over the Orioles.

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Girardi said Alex Rodriguez will have his knee examined early this week — likely today — and then head to Tampa.

“The idea is to start getting him doing some baseball stuff,” Girardi said. “I think once he gets going, it shouldn’t take that long. It’s more just waiting for the knee to heal. I don’t think you’re talking about having to do a week of rehab games. I think once we get it, it’ll go pretty quickly.”