With names like Luis Severino, J.A. Happ, and Adam Ottavino in the New York Yankees pitching unit, sometimes the smaller, less known players slips between the cracks. Often times we don’t realize their influence until later in the season, but this year might present opportunities for the younger pitchers in the rotation.
A young pitcher ready to earn his spot with the New York Yankees:
When considering a pitcher we often look at their ERA, how many hits they give up per game, but evaluating a player goes far beyond that. Luis Cessa, the 26-year-old right-handed pitcher for the Bombers, finished last season with a putrid 5.24 ERA, but that doesn’t tell the story of his abilities.
Cessa has the ability to act as a starter and reliever, giving him more value than some one-dimensional pitchers. CC Sabathia will serve a five-game suspension to start the season, and Cessa could be the first man up to fill in during the absence of the veteran. Ultimately, it will come down to how Cessa and other options vying for an opportunity perform during spring training.
There are plenty of options behind Cessa, including Domingo German, Stephan Tarpley, and Danny Farquhar. The opportunity is up in the air for the taking, but there’s not much room to start in a stacked Yankees starting and relieving rotation.
The only real chance of the younger options earning a spot as a starter is if Sabathia is forced to lessen his workload or injuries start to arise. But, that’s the perfect scenario for the alternates to get their chance to showcase their skills. It’s better to have a solidified foundation of starters and to utilize young options in reserve than to force them into immediate roles.
Manager Aaron Boone stated:
“I think we feel like we have some really good options with some guys that can push for consideration and impact our club at some point,†Aaron Boone said Sunday at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “Performance does matter. The stuff we are seeing does matter.â€