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Yankees’ Marcus Stroman hurts his postseason case in disastrous short notice start

With Nestor Cortes sidelined by an elbow injury and unable to start on Wednesday, the Yankees turned to Marcus Stroman.

That did not go well for the pitcher or the team, as the Orioles won, 9-7, and delayed the Bombers’ division title celebration for a second straight day. Stroman found immediate trouble in his first start since Sept. 10, allowing three straight singles to open the game before Jasson Domínguez whiffed on a flyball down the left field line. Two scored on the blunder — technically ruled a single — before Ryan Mountcastle made it a 3-0 game with a knock of his own.

While The Martian’s latest defensive mishap didn’t help Stroman, three more runs were charged to the pitcher in the fourth frame, and he left the game after throwing just 3.1 innings. Stroman has now logged less than four innings in four of his last nine starts.

On Wednesday, Stroman also totaled 10 hits, 12 hard-hit balls, zero walks and one strikeout in his final start of the regular season.

It’s possible that was also Stroman’s last appearance of the year.

While he found himself in an unenviable position starting on short notice — Aaron Boone told the righty on Tuesday night — Stroman has been ineffective throughout the second half. It’s why the Yankees recently moved the veteran to the bullpen.

Before allowing one run during a three-inning save on Sept. 17 — his only relief appearance — Stroman had a 5.35 ERA in his last 16 starts. Following Wednesday’s outing, he now has the fourth-highest WHIP (1.47) and lowest K% (16.7) among pitchers who have thrown at least 130 innings this season, according to Stathead’s Katie Sharp.

With numbers like that — Stroman’s ERA is up to 4.31 — it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Yankees leave the starter off their playoff rosters just a few months after guaranteeing him $37 million in free agency.

The club doesn’t need a full rotation for October — Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt remain available — and Stroman doesn’t profile as a dependable reliever due to his predisposition to hard contact and lack of strikeout stuff.

Whether Stroman gets a spot could depend on whether the Yankees carry 12 or 13 pitchers in the playoffs.

With the four aforementioned starters locks regardless of their role, the Yankees also plan on having Luke Weaver, Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle, Tim Hill, Ian Hamilton and Jake Cousins in their postseason bullpen. That’s 10 pitchers right there — Cousins hopes to be ready for the ALDS after a pec strain — and leaves two or three openings.

Remaining candidates include Tim Mayza, Mark Leiter Jr., Cody Poteet and Stroman.

Mayza theoretically saw his odds of making the roster improve when Cortes, a fellow southpaw likely to work in relief, got hurt.

Leiter has been awful since the Yankees made him their biggest pre-trade deadline relief acquisition, but he can still get some strikeouts when he’s on.

Poteet has limited experience but has been reliable when used this season, including Wednesday, when he allowed one run over 3.1 innings of scoreless relief.

Given his competition — and $18.5 million salary — Stroman may still end up on the Yankees’ playoff roster. At the very least, he can offer some length in mop-up situations.

But as Wednesday reminded, the Yankees could get burned if they end up turning to Stroman in other scenarios.

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