Perhaps the most astonishing aspect of the Yankees’ starting pitching performances is that none of them are thrown by Gerrit Cole.
Unless you count Cole’s progress in making throws during his bullpen sessions while recovering from an elbow injury that appears to persist until June.
The Yankees have 33 victories in 48 games, the same as two years ago, and an ERA of 2.81, 14 points lower than in 2022, when they started 33-15. The Yankees are averaging 8.7 strikeouts per game, compared to 9.2 strikeouts by this point in 2022 on their way to 99 wins.
“I acknowledged the questions just based on guys coming off of injury, a down performance, whatever it may be,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday morning. But I know all of the individuals we’re talking about are capable of what they’ve accomplished thus far.
Cole has been sidelined since mid-March, and others have advocated for investing on free agents Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, both left-handed, who signed with San Francisco and Arizona, respectively.
There were requests to make those changes because questions remained about the rotation beyond Cole, whose Cy Young defence was halted when the injury was revealed.
Marcus Stroman, who had injuries while playing for the Cubs last year, remained a source of concern. Another question was whether Nestor Cortes could return to 2022 after pitching once beyond May 30 last season, and whether Clarke Schmidt could advance after setting a career high in innings last season.
Perhaps the most serious concern was Carlos Rodón’s first season of a six-year, $162 million contract, which was marred by forearm, elbow, and hamstring injuries. The first two injuries prevented Rodon from touching the mound long before the All-Star break, when the 2023 season began to slip poorly, and when he did, he was 3-8 with a 6.85 ERA in 14 starts spanning 64 1/3 innings.
Rodon is around nine innings shy of last season’s total and has two more wins after the Yankees went seven games in a row with a starter going at least six innings and allowing two runs or less. It’s the first time the Yankees have done it since July 6-16, 2010, when their rotation included CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, and Javier Vasquez.
“I sit down in the dugout now and look around, and I feel pretty comfortable sitting in this stadium,” Rodón stated. “I was thinking about it the first month of April.” I’m looking around and thinking, ‘This doesn’t feel as overpowering anymore. “It feels like home.”
And his most recent comfortable outing saw him pitch while still recovering from illness, with 23 swings and misses against the team that selected him in the first round in 2014, and saw him pitch a no-hitter early in the 2021 season, resulting in a contract with the San Francisco Giants and eventual signing in December 2022.
The latest good start came a day after Luis Gil loaded the bases in the first inning and subsequently established a rookie record with 14 strikeouts, shattering Orlando Hernández’s mark from 1998. Gil was likely another big issue considering his rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery in 2022, and for a fifth starter, he is surprisingly powerful.
Cole will eventually return, but in the meanwhile, the Yankees will continue to enjoy what their rotation is accomplishing on its route to the top record in the American League.
“I acknowledged the questions just based on guys coming off of injury, a down performance, whatever it may be,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday morning. But I know all of the individuals we’re talking about are capable of what they’ve accomplished thus far.
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