The New York Yankees are facing a significant pitching problem after the first series of the regular season against the Boston Red Sox. While it has been just three games, the starting pitching rotation was expected to be a weakness given the lack of capital general manager Brian Cashman invested in the position.
All three of the Yankees starters against Boston had relatively poor performances, with Jordan Montgomery capping it off on Sunday night in the team’s first loss of the year.
The Yankees’ starting rotation:
1.) Gerrit Cole
2.) Luis Severino
3.) Jordan Montgomery
4.) Jameson Taillon
5.) Nestor Cortes
In Gerrit Cole’s first outing, he gave up two runs over four innings, stamped by a Rafael Devers two-run homer in the first inning after a four-minute delay to opening day. While Cole will get back into shape and stifle any concerns, he’s being paid big money to do just that. The other starting pitchers on the roster can’t be relied on in that same way, budding concern in the mid-rotation.
Looking at Luis Severino, he enjoyed his first start in nearly 3 years, pitching three innings and giving up a two-run blast to Alex Verdugo in the second inning. While Severino touched triple digits with his fastball and showed solid break, there is obvious concern regarding his consistency and reliability moving forward.
The bullpen has picked up the Yankee starting pitching significantly, enjoying six no-hit innings on Saturday before running into a tiny bit of trouble against Boston on Sunday. Clarke Schmidt, who came in after Montgomery gave up four hits and three runs over 3.1 innings, allowed an earned run, one of the few times the bullpen has given up any production. Given it was a singular run, it’s nothing to write home about. The bullpen has been mostly effective to start the year.
In fact, the starters have given up eight runs in the first three games, whereas the bullpen has allowed three runs. Based on the lack of investment, the rotation could end up being the team’s weak spot, which is why most begged Cashman to trade for Athletics starter Sean Manaea or at least sign a free agent. Instead, he remained optimistic about the players on the roster and looked ahead to Aaron Judge’s big extension, which he failed to finalize before opening day.
Of course, the team has plenty of time to work out any kinks, but there’s plenty of reason to be cautiously optimistic about the starters.