(From left) Yankees pitchers Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino and Nestor...

(From left) Yankees pitchers Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino and Nestor Cortes. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke

Regardless of the order in which the Yankees choose to send out their starting pitchers in the American League Division Series — going into Friday, that still was very much a topic of discussion and debate inside the organization — rival scouts say it’s as good a trio as there is in the AL playoffs.   

“Their top three right now,” one AL talent evaluator said of the Yankees’ rotation, “match up with anyone’s.”

The safe bet remains Gerrit Cole getting the start in Tuesday’s Division Series opener at the Stadium. However, the fact that the Yankees are even considering someone other than Cole is an interesting side story as they wait for Cleveland or Tampa Bay.

The Guardians, behind Shane Bieber's brilliant 7 2/3 innings  and Jose Ramirez's two-run homer, took a one-game-to-none lead in their best-of-three AL Wild Card Series  with a 2-1 victory Friday afternoon in Cleveland.

Cole, signed to a nine-year, $324 million deal before the 2020 season to be the without-a-doubt choice as the Game 1 starter in any postseason series, had a fine year, going 13-8 with a 3.50 ERA in 33 starts. The righthander struck out a franchise-record 257 batters, breaking the previous record of 248 set by Ron Guidry in 1978.

But Cole also allowed 33 homers in 200 2/3 innings, the most in the American League. He gave up 81 runs this season and 55 scored on home runs (68%), including 18 with no one on base and 15 with at least one man on. That has caused its share of concern organizationally; in the postseason, all it takes is one to beat you.

Going by 2022 resumes, Nestor Cortes had the best and most consistent season among Yankees starters. The lefthander, armed with his at-times quirky delivery and an assortment of slow stuff, went 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 28 starts.

And then there’s Luis Severino, who came off the 60-day injured list in mid-September and threw smoke. The righthander went 7-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts. In his final regular-season start on Monday in Arlington against the Rangers, he threw seven no-hit innings before being removed after 94 pitches.

One NL scout, assigned to the Yankees throughout the season, recently was asked what he had seen out of Severino since his return from the IL. “Like the guy who should be pitching Game 1 [of a playoff series] for them,” he said.

But whether it’s Cole, Cortes or Severino going in Game 1, “it’s not like there’s a big drop-off afterward with [the next two]” another NL talent evaluator said.

Aaron Boone, speaking Thursday on the Michael Kay Show on ESPN Radio, said of his rotation rollout, specifically in Game 1: “We have a ton of great choices now.”

He continued: “We feel like where Sevy is, where Gerrit is, where Nestor is, I feel good walking into a series — like I said earlier — about anyone.”

Talking earlier this week about what’s most important in the postseason for teams hoping to capture the ultimate prize, Boone, not surprisingly, mentioned one thing first.

 “You’ve got to pitch,” he said. “And you’ve got to be able to close out the games [when] you have a chance. You’ve got to find a little magic along the way, I think, and you’ve got to catch the ball, and you’ve got to hit the ball in the seats, too.

"A lot of times the teams that are able to create a little bit of traffic and when they get a mistake, stick it, those are important. Because obviously you're going up against other great teams and other great pitching, but I think a little bit of magic, whether that's winning a game you shouldn’t or winning a game in some come-from-behind, gutsy fashion, catching the ball. [But] pitching at a really high level is ultimately going to be important.”

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