The New York Yankees desperately need to upgrade their starting pitching rotation after losing three players to free agency this off-season. There is the possibility they inquire about retaining James Paxton or Masahiro Tanaka, but it seems they have moved on from JA Happ considering his lackluster performance in 2020. Paxton is supposedly healthy and is throwing for teams, and the Yankees should be in attendance given his cost-efficient lefty arm.
However, it is possible general manager Brian Cashman elects to take a different approach toward the position. Going with new players that represent varying levels of quality to fit a specific mold seems like the most likely scenario. One fantastic opportunity could be Corey Kluber, who hasn’t pitched much over the past two seasons but was considered one of the best starters in the MLB two years ago in 2018.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Yankees have an insider helping Corey Kluber recover from his previous injuries.
Eric Cressey, who runs Cressey Sports Performance, was named the Yankees’ director of health and performance last offseason and is training Kluber through rehab this offseason. Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake worked at Cressey Sports before joining the Indians as director of pitching performance in 2016 and, thus, was with Kluber for his final four Cleveland seasons. … In a text, Cressey wrote: “Corey is doing great. It’s been a really smooth rehab with no hiccups and he’s already been off the mound several times.â€