ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Just one game, of course, but the Yankees’ 12-inning, 5-1 victory over the Rays on Sunday at Tropicana Field, ending a two-game losing streak, provided another sample of evidence that this team is strong enough to remain in contention throughout the season. They can enjoy Monday’s off-day in tranquility and look forward to Masahiro Tanaka’s Rivalry debut Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
Let’s look considerably forward and assume, as the Yankees battle their American League East neighbors into July, Hal Steinbrenner will turn the spigot back on as trade talks intensify. Now let’s try to determine where their greatest area of need will lie.
Until Saturday, you would’ve placed the Yankees’ starting rotation in the “No worries” bucket, alongside the outfield. But now Ivan Nova very well might not pitch again this year, and that puts the Yankees’ starting rotation in play, joining the infield and bullpen as potential sources of concern.
Four years ago, the Yankees passed on trading for Seattle’s Cliff Lee in part because the Mariners wanted Nova in a return package. Could Lee now replace Nova?
OK, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Yet with 19 games down, we can assert this: The loss of Nova to a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, making season-ending Tommy John surgery a strong possibility, goes down as the most serious injury to date in this 2014 Yankees season. And thereby turned Sunday from a completely positive day into one of decidedly mixed emotions.
“It’s really unfortunate,” Joe Girardi said prior to the game of Nova’s setback. “It’s a guy that obviously we were counting on pretty heavily this year.”
Had Nova never emerged in the second half last year, Girardi’s group might have flirted seriously with .500. These 2014 Yankees likely will thrive or dive with virtually no contributions from Nova, who tallied a ghastly 8.27 ERA in his four starts.
One scout who sees the Yankees often said Sunday he thought Nova’s stuff wasn’t as crisp this whole season, and the 27-year-old’s fastball velocity had dipped from an average of 93 miles per hour in ’13 to 92.1 this year. That’s not dramatic, of course — and Rays folks preparing for Saturday’s game observed how well Nova pitched in his previous start, April 13 against the Red Sox — and Girardi said the Yankees saw no correlation between Nova’s roller-coaster start to the campaign and this injury.
Left-hander Vidal Nuno, assigned Sunday’s start because the April 16 doubleheader against the Cubs necessitated a sixth starter, threw well enough (five shutout innings) to merit the favorite status as Nova’s replacement. The turn next comes up Saturday at home against the Angels.
“He was great,” Girardi said. “He kept making good pitches. … Obviously, we need to make plans for Saturday, and we’ll decide [Monday].”
“Now I have my confidence back,” Nuno said. “So now, I’m looking forward to getting after it.”
Girardi said the Angels’ makeup, with dangerous righty hitters Albert Pujols and Mike Trout, wouldn’t factor into his choice. Nuno pitches better against righties (.250/.302/.455) than lefties (.280/.414/.458), anyway.
Maybe the Yankees can get by the rest of the year with a makeshift fifth starter. However, they face questions in their front four with Michael Pineda, who will be held to an unspecified innings limit after returning from right shoulder surgery; with CC Sabathia, still trying to find a groove for over a year now; and with Tanaka, just because he’s a rookie.
Lee, signed through next year at $25 million with a $27.5 million vesting option for 2016, has a 4.00 ERA in four starts for the Phillies, who seem destined to stink. Could the Phillies finally sell off the veteran lefty to restock their farm system? And would the Yankees, with the struggles of their minor leagues well-documented, have the package sufficient to land such a big fish, assuming Steinbrenner greenlights taking on the money Lee is owed?
Other possible trade targets include Cleveland’s Justin Masterson, the Cubs’ Jeff Samardzija, Arizona’s Bronson Arroyo and (yikes) Lee’s Phillies teammate A.J. Burnett.
Of course, the infield (San Diego’s Chase Headley, Cleveland’s Asdrubal Cabrera) or bullpen (too many possibilities to mention) could emerge as greater crises. Those units delivered again on Sunday, with backup shortstop Dean Anna working the game-winning, bases-loaded walk in the 12th (after Girardi pinch-ran Ichiro Suzuki for starter Derek Jeter in the 11th) and a quintet of relievers allowing just one run in seven innings.
The Yankees may be joining the Tommy John party late; already 13 major league pitchers have submitted to this procedure in 2014.
“It seems to be the surgery of choice this year,” Girardi said.
Despite Sunday’s bad news, however, the Yankees should be at the pennant-chase party all season. We’ll monitor whom else they’ll need to invite to keep the party going all the way through October.