The New York Yankees already have one of the premier pitchers in the Major Leagues, Luis Severino. He’s been the team’s ace ever since the 2017 season and rightly so – credited to a 3.46 ERA and winning 33 games between 2018 and 2019.
Even though the Yankees already have one of the league’s best, this is still not enough. They have been after Gerrit Cole and if they land him, the Yankees will have two number one pitchers in the rotation for years to come.
Between Cole and Severino (using Sevy’s 2018 stats since he was injured for most of 2019), they have a record of 39-13 record with a combined 2.94 ERA. They both racked up a total of 546 strikeouts and both finished as All-Stars and in the Cy Young voting.
Even though the Yankees have been very successful for the past three seasons, losing twice in the ALCS and once in the ALDS isn’t going to cut it for Yankee fans. They are missing a huge piece to the puzzle: two dominate starters.
We saw it this year with the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals. Both teams had two “lights-out” starters that guided them through the regular season and performed during the postseason. It was evident that the Yankee rotation wasn’t enough to earn them number 28.
Here’s the deal: quality pitching wins championships. If you look back at the last several years, every champion had their two aces. For example, the Nationals (Strasburg and Scherzer), the Red Sox (Sale and Price), the Astros (Verlander and Keuchel), and the list goes on and on.
The Yankees need more than one dominate pitcher to achieve number 28, one guy isn’t impossible but definitely more difficult.