Yankees’ projected starters have all excelled in Spring Training

New York Yankees, Corey Kluber
Feb 21, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Corey Kluber (28) throws a pitch at Yankees player development complex. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees certainly gambled when they let Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, and J.A. Happ go through free agency. They were left with a bonafide ace, in Gerrit Cole, and lots of question marks. However, they recovered nicely and added Jameson Taillon and Corey Kluber during the offseason after the calendar flipped to 2021.

Now, the Yankees’ pitching depth, as far as starters go, is Cole, Kluber, Taillon, Jordan Montgomery, Domingo German, Deivi Garcia, Clarke Schmidt, and Mike King, with other names potentially entering the conversation.

Schmidt is injured right now, but all the components of the projected top six right now, which is Cole – Kluber – Taillon – Montgomery – German – Garcia, are having a very good spring training as of Thursday morning, according to the stats.

The numbers love Yankees’ starters

The Yankees’ top six starters have pitched 21 innings so far in spring training action, and they hold a collective 1.71 ERA, with only four earned runs allowed, 15 hits, four walks, and a whopping 27 strikeouts. Talk about early dominance.

Not that spring training stats carry too much weight at the time of making analyses, but it’s always nice to see Yankees’ players succeed this early.

Surprisingly, German has been the best of the bunch, with no runs allowed through five frames, two hits, no walks, and seven punchouts.

Kluber has been perfect for two innings, with three strikeouts to his name, while Taillon hasn’t conceded runs in three frames and has a walk and five whiffs.

The Yankees have all their faith put in Garcia to be ready for a full season, and so far, he has looked good while tossing five innings with two runs conceded, no walks, and eight strikeouts.

Cole let in one run in his lone inning of work, while Monty also conceded one run in five frames.

Other potential options to start for the Yankees, such as Mike King and Nick Nelson, have also excelled.