When the revised start of the 2022 schedule was released and the Yankees were also rained out on Opening Day against Boston, they knew that they would be in a bit of an uncharacteristic marathon to start the season. They have played every day since Friday, April 8th, a span of 10 games in 10 days during a time in which their starting pitchers were not fully stretched out due to the owners’ lockout pushing back the start of spring training.
So to accommodate their starters, the Yankees decided to use 11 of their 28 roster spots on relievers (16 pitchers in total).