The Yankees roster will look different in the ALCS.
With the Yankees flying to Houston after Tuesday’s 5-1 Game 5 win and Game 1 of the ALCS at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday night, they don’t have much time to make decisions.
Following the win, Aaron Boone wouldn’t say whether injured players like DJ LeMahieu or pitchers Frankie Montas or Ron Marinaccio would be available — but they haven’t been ruled out.
But with Aaron Hicks out of the playoffs with a knee injury suffered Tuesday, Boone said he didn’t think Andrew Benintendi (fractured right hook of the hamate bone) would be an option.
Prior to the game, LeMahieu took batting practice on the field and fielded grounders at second and third base and said there was some improvement in his injured right toe that kept him off the ALDS roster.
He said he was “hoping” to be on the ALCS roster, although the Yankees won’t have a workout day in Houston for LeMahieu to test it more.
Montas (shoulder) and Marinaccio (shin) have been throwing live batting practice in an effort to be a part of the ALCS bullpen.
Montas said he was “ready to go” after Tuesday’s game and said he could be used in a two-inning role.
It would be an unfamiliar spot for the right-hander, who has been a disappointment since arriving in a trade at the deadline from Oakland.
Marinaccio also said he would be able to pitch in Wednesday’s game.
While the shin injury is still nagging him, he said it’s gotten somewhat better and he felt healthy enough to contribute.
The Yankees had Miguel Castro and Lucas Luetge in the pen for the ALDS and neither pitched in the five-game series.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa made it back onto the field after being benched two straight games due to what Boone called “pressing” in the field.
When Hicks went out with his injury, the Yankees first turned to Marwin Gonzalez to go to left field, with Oswaldo Cabrera moving from left to shortstop. But after Matt Carpenter hit for Gonzalez in the sixth, Kiner-Falefa entered as a defensive replacement, with Cabrera going back to left.
Kiner-Falefa was hit by a pitch and fielded Myles Straw’s grounder for the series-clinching last out in the ninth.
“Getting benched was a good kick in the ass,’’ Kiner-Falefa said. “Not that I needed one, but I’m a fiery player and it got me going.”
He said he was unsure of what he’ll be asked to do in the ALCS.
Cabrera had a pair of miscues at short on Tuesday and the Yankees could put Oswald Peraza on the roster for the next round.
Boone has been impressed by how Kiner-Falefa reacted to being out of the lineup.
“He was prepared,’’ Boone said. “The last couple days he hasn’t sulked at all. … And he’ll play a big role moving for us, too.”
Gerrit Cole was warming up in the top of the ninth with Wandy Peralta on the mound and would have come in if Peralta had gotten into trouble in the inning, likely to face Amed Rosario.
Pitching coach Matt Blake said Cole would have been used in a similar role as how Clarke Schmidt came in during the ninth inning of Game 3 in Cleveland, when he replaced Peralta and gave up three hits in the loss.
Boone still seemed shocked on Tuesday that the Yankees didn’t wind up getting Game 5 in on Monday night in The Bronx before they ended up winning the series on Tuesday.
Boone was part of the group that also included general manager Brian Cashman, Cleveland manager Terry Francona and members of the Guardians’ front office, as well as MLB officials and officials from two weather services that took part in a number of Zoom calls on Monday night when they discussed options for playing while dealing with persistent rain.
Boone said the consensus was that the weather system would be gone by 8:45 p.m. at the latest, meaning that the game could start around 9:30, after the starting pitchers from both teams had a chance to warm up.
But the rain didn’t let up as hoped and more storms popped up over New Jersey unexpectedly, further delaying a potential start time.
Once they realized they wouldn’t be able to play until at least 10:30, the parties opted to push the game to Tuesday, with the final decision resting with MLB.
“You’re at the mercy of the situation,’’ Boone said.
With players left out of the conversations, they turned to Boone for information throughout the night.
“We thought 9:30 was gonna happen and they were like lions outside my door,” Boone said of his team, who were mostly in full uniform. “I had players ready to go, had eye-black on, like ‘What’s going on?’ basically. And it just kept getting pushed back a little bit, and then obviously got too far.”
At the end of the night, MLB finally drew the wrath of many when they waited more than 2 ¹/₂ hours to finally postpone the game after thousands of fans sat in poor conditions waiting for an update.