Sonny Gray's first start as a Yankee set for Thursday vs. Indians

NEW YORK -- Newly acquired starter Sonny Gray will make hisYankeesdebut on Thursday inCleveland. He will be followed on Friday by the Yankees' other new starter, Jaime Garcia.

To say he's looking forward to it is putting it mildly.

"Every kid wants to play for the Yankees," Gray, 27, said. "It is not something that I'm going to take for granted. I'm very excited to be here and get to work. Thursday, for me, can't come soon enough."

In a series of tweets before he arrived at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, Gray expressed his excitement about joining the team, saying it has always been a dream of his to wear the pinstripes.

He also tweeted his thanks toOaklandand its fans.

While rookie Jordan Montgomery appears to be the odd man out of the rotation, he has not been dropped yet. The Yankees are going with a six-man rotation this one time; Montgomery gets the nod on Saturday, and new ace Luis Severino will start on Sunday.

The move was made because Yankees manager Joe Girardi pushed Severino to 116 pitches over five innings on Monday.

"We figured let's give him an extra day," Girardi said.

Girardi again expressed his opposition to going with a six-man rotation after this one turn. He said it is too hard to construct a 25-man roster with six starters. He also feels like the extra day of rest could throw some of his pitchers off their rhythm.

Girardi would not say that Montgomery will be the starter dropped from the rotation, but he is the most obvious candidate, as it seems unlikely CC Sabathia or Masahiro Tanaka would be taken out. Severino, an All-Star, is certainly not an option.

Montgomery is 7-6 with a 4.15 ERA this season. He made 16 starts in the first half, going 6-4 with a 3.65 ERA, but is 1-2 with a 6.52 ERA in four starts since the All-Star break.

Garcia, who was first traded before the deadline from Atlanta to Minnesota before ending up in the Bronx, said the trade to the Yankees was emotional because his late grandfather was a Yankee fan and used to tell Garcia's mother that one day Garcia would wear the pinstripes.

"The family was touched by that," Garcia said.