Rogers Willing to Replace Phelps if Need Be

New Yankees' Reliever Esmil Rogers said that he is willing to take over David Phelps' spot in the rotation if the latter is unable to pitch. 

The 28-year-old, who joined the Yanks Thursday when they called him off waivers from the Blue Jays, made his team debut last night in Boston, impressively striking out both Mike Napoli and Yoenis Cespedes while retiring nine of the ten hitters he faced. 

No, that line doesn't guarantee any future success, but since it is obviously likable some are beginning to speculate that Rogers could be the next guy to begin a game, something he further pondered to The Star Ledger's Brendan Kuty after New York won.

"I'm going to do everything I can," the youngster said. "I don't want to go back (to the minors). Everything that I can do to help the team win, I'm going to do it because I'm healthy and I'm here to help the team."

During last night's first two innings, the usually-good Phelps surrendered 5 earned runs, an unfortunate occurrence that now appears to have happened because of a shoulder problem.

Earlier today, though, Yankees Manager Joe Girardi did tell reporters that the severity of a Phelps' injury isn't yet known, making whether or not #41 will be okay in five days a mystery.