The New York Yankees primary struggle has been with the starting pitching rotation. J.A. Happ struggled against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night, allowing six runs over 5.0 innings pitched. This has been a frequent occurrence for the once trustworthy pitcher.
Having several others on the injured list including CC Sabathia and Luis Severino have limited the success of the rotation as a whole. However, the Yankees have won eight of their last nine games after the July 31 trade deadline.
While the starting rotation has struggled this season, the Yankees might be in for a significant hurdle in regards to their relief pitching. The over usage of the relievers could cause issues down the road with fatigue. The Yankees have relied on the relievers to supplement the deficiencies of the starters.
Chad Green, Adam Ottavino, Zack Britton, Nestor Cortes Jr., and Aroldis Chapman have all been frequent fliers this season on the mound.
Ultimately, the Bombers need their starters to go more innings and produce more quality performance is to ensure that their relievers don’t take the brunt of the damage. Hopefully, they will see the return of Dellin Betances this season as well as Severino, their primary ace. While there is no specific timetable for return, it is expected they will make their debut at some point before the playoffs would be ideal since the quality of teams they will face will elevate exponentially.
Severino has finally begun pitching off amount, five months after learning he would miss a majority of the 2019 regular season. If he can re-join the team and succeed it could give a boost to the other starters who have been picking up the slack in his absence.
Additionally, there have been reports of Yankees minor-league star Deivi Garcia being called up to the majors to help as a relief option. General manager Brian Cashman stated that Garcia would not be used in a starting role to do his inexperience. He can contribute in the bullpen, though.