NEW YORK -- Yankees manager Aaron Boone had a hard time deciding who to pick for his starting pitcher to face the Oakland Athletics in Wednesday night's American League Wild Card Game.
Boone declared this a three-horse race in mid-September, and it apparently stayed a three-horse race until Sunday when Luis Severino was selected over J.A. Happ and Masahiro Tanaka.
Yankees 25-man roster for AL Wild Card Game
This was a gutsy call for the rookie manager because Happ (17-6) has been the Yankees' best starter since joining them in a July 26 trade from the Toronto Blue Jays. In 11 starts with the Yankees, he was 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA.
Severino won 19 games this season and pitched well in his last two starts, but he was 5-6 with a 5.69 ERA in his final 13 outings after going 14-2 with a 2.12 ERA in his first 19 starts.
Tanaka was 12-6 with a 3.75 ERA this season. He pitched to a 2.85 ERA over his final 12 starts, but allowed nine runs, eight of them earned, over eight innings in his last two outings.
Why Severino?
"First of all, the decision, as I've kind of talked about over the last week, we felt like was from a position of strength," Boone said. "I felt very, very good that it was a good decision in front of us. And J.A. Happ is a very good decision, had we gone that way. Same with Masa, same with CC (Sabathia, the No. 4 starter) for that matter.
"But I guess in a way I'm going with what I believe, Sevy turning the corner, and what I believe is when he's pitching his best, he'll be the best pitcher on the field. I feel like he's ready for this opportunity and I think he's very much looking forward to taking the ball."
After hearing Boone's choice and explanation, Yankees beat writers Randy Miller and Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media took different stances.
Watch the video above for their opposite takes on the Yankees' starting pitching decision.
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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