Gerrit Cole will open the American League Division Series for the New York Yankees, and the way Aaron Boone is stacking the rest of the rotation, that Saturday start in Tampa Bay may be the only time New York’s veteran right-hander takes the ball before the series is decided.

The Yankees arrive at Tropicana Field having swept the Red Sox in the Wild Card Series, outscoring Boston 18-2, and now face the top-seeded Rays in a best-of-five that begins Saturday.

Boone has already named Cole for Game 1. Cam Schlittler is lined up for Game 2 on Wednesday night. That leaves Games 3 and 4, and Boone was clear Friday about who is getting those.

“Carlos is probably throwing Game 3 or 4 for us,” Boone said.

“Carlos has been in consideration literally Game 1 of the Wild Card, 2 of the Wild Card, potentially Game 3, and every game moving forward. It’s one of those difficult decisions we have, one of those good difficult decisions we have because we have four guys who are very high end.”

The four are Cole, Schlittler, Carlos Rodón and Max Fried. Rodón did not pitch against Boston, which fed the assumption that he had been moved to the bullpen for October. Boone shut that down.

Rodón will start one of the middle games, Fried the other. In a best-of-five, that alignment does not leave a second hole for Cole unless the series reaches a Game 5.

Cole, in other words, is being used as the opener rather than the pivot.

A four-man group built around high-end arms lets Boone avoid asking anyone to work on short rest through the first four games, and it keeps Rodón and Fried on a starter’s schedule after both were held out of the Wild Card round.

The cost of that flexibility sits with Cole.

If New York wins the series in three or four games, his October ledger stays at one start. Even if it goes the distance, his next chance would come only in a decisive fifth game, on normal rest after Saturday, rather than anywhere earlier in the series.

Boone framed the choice as a surplus problem, not a shortage. Rodón has been in the conversation for every game since the postseason began, and the manager’s point was that New York can afford to be picky.

The practical result is a rotation map that reads Cole, Schlittler, then Rodón and Fried in either order. Cole gets the first ball against the Rays.

On the plan Boone described, he may not get another one in this series.