And he's not left-handed?

Because the Yankees are about to become the first team in baseball's history to start 10 different pitchers in the team's first 30 games of the season, grab that cup o' coffee, Matt DeSalvo.

ARLINGTON, Tex., May 3 — Matt DeSalvo had slipped so far down the Yankees’ depth chart that he was taken off the 40-man roster in January to make room for Miguel Cairo. Every team had a chance to claim DeSalvo, but none did.

The Yankees are thankful for that. They need a pitcher for Monday, and DeSalvo will fill the spot, which would make the Yankees the first team in baseball history to use 10 starters in its first 30 games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. DeSalvo’s turnaround from washout to major leaguer can be loosely traced to the demotion.

“I’m sure the lack of quality of his performance last year was a motivating factor,” Mark Newman, the Yankees’ senior vice president for baseball operations, said of DeSalvo’s revival. “And I’m sure that being taken off the roster enhanced that.

“He couldn’t do a whole lot more than what he’s done at this level. He deserves it. He’s done it himself, and he’s been really tough.”

The Yankees had two open spots in the rotation; one because of the hamstring injury to Phil Hughes, the other because of a rainout here Wednesday that bumped back Andy Pettitte’s start by a day. Darrell Rasner will return from Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to start Sunday against Seattle, and DeSalvo will make his major league debut against the Mariners the next night.

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DeSalvo, who throws a slider, splitter and changeup, was signed by the Yankees as an undrafted free agent when he was a fifth-year senior at Division III Marietta College in Ohio.

He is a studious sort; he has written an unpublished novel and is an avid reader. At his locker in spring training, DeSalvo could be seen reading “The Myth of Sisyphus” by Albert Camus.

“He reads and writes and thinks,” Newman said. “He’s an interesting guy to talk to.”

So many new and interesting people Yankee fans are meeting this season. Should be another wild weekend in the Bronx.