Fifteen games into the season, the Yankees plan to start the bullpen

Maybe it's a sign of troubling times, but Cody Poteet All-You-Can-Eat Night has come early. 

The 29-year-old RH bullpen lug nut will start the nightcap of today's rainout doubleheader. It's the Yanks' first Country Buffet game, aka the "bullpen start." Bring your entire roster, plus a dish to pass. In such outings, the "starter" generally throws as hard and as long as possible, then celebrates by boarding a bus to Scranton. It's one of baseball's cruelest indignities: The journeyman pitcher used as a human sacrifice to the juju gods of tweaks and tears.

I view "bullpen starts" as another crapola legacy of the Tampa Rays, who championed the Nonstop Dome Sound Effects Echo Chamber and the defensive over-shift, which grew from a 2010 rarity to something MLB needed to ban. With "bullpen starts," the Rays were first to use waves of pitchers like the Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: Just throw them at the opposition, one per inning, if necessary.

Today, the state of pitching is so bleak and fragile that, at any moment, on any mound, in any city, we can imagine any pitcher suddenly clutching his elbow and marching to the dugout, never to be seen again. There is no such thing as an injury-free career. It's not a matter of "if." It's a matter of "when?" (Though Masahiro Tanaka, who pitched three years with a torn elbow, deserves a spot in Monument Park's Medical Ward.) 

So... Cody Poteet? Aside from the cool name, here's what we know: 

He threw 10 innings in spring training, gave up 10 earned runs. Do the math. Not exactly Verlander. In Scranton this month, he's thrown 8.1 innings, given up 2 ERs - both from HRs. The Yankees are his third MLB organization. He's from San Diego. His dog has ringworm. (Jesss keeedding.)

Other news: 

1. Down in Triple A, Caleb Durbin, the 5'6" Moose of Moosic, went 2-4 last night. He's now 7th in the IL in hitting, at .386. He has 8 stolen bases, 2nd in the league behind Brandon Lockridge, his CF Scranton teammate, who has 11. (Lockridge is 27, hitting .316.) One of the Gammonites yesterday referred to him as "a dirtbag," in that his jersey gets dirty. Okay with me. For now, anyway, the Yankee Altuve dream is still alive.

2. Despite the fact that, a) Gerrit Cole is out, b) Aaron Judge has been a useless hole in the batting order, c) we have no everyday 3B and d) we're starting Cody Poteet,  the Yanks still have the best record in baseball. Seriously... we should not play the Whine Card, just yet. It's a long season. Save your complaining. There will come a time...