The Yankees’ rotation was supposed to be the other one in town, the group that was going to need reinforcements sooner rather than later, the unit that looked like a YMCA fivesome compared to the Warriors-esque Mets quintet.
Yet at the first major marker of a season — Memorial Day weekend — the Yankees’ starters have proven not only better than their Mets counterparts so far in 2017, but just as vital, healthier.
Remember the narrative of spring was that both rotations were fragile, but the Mets had seven desirable arms from which to select to make them more bulletproof. Except two months into the season, they already have had to go beyond the seven to Rafael Montero and Adam Wilk, and perhaps in the next few days to Tyler Pill or Josh Smoker. And the cascade of injury and inadequacy has had a spillover that has worn out the bullpen.
Conversely, despite all the worries that the Yankees would be talking MRI as much as ERA this season, they are one of just four teams to use only five starters.
That not only has provided stability, but as general manager Brian Cashman told me recently, “It is buying us time with development.” He explained that pitchers such as Chance Adams, Justus Sheffield, Domingo German and Domingo Acevedo are gaining experience and refinement, and pushing closer to joining Chad Green, Bryan Mitchell and Luis Cessa as options when the inevitable need comes.
They — and a group of positional prospects — also have performed well (besides Cessa) to gain further value as the Yankees approach the July 31 trade deadline, when the expectation is they still will try to add a starter if they believe they have a postseason chance.
For the Yankees know the rotation’s best qualities have been steadiness and sturdiness, and the strength of the team has been the offense and bullpen. But the roles have reversed recently. The lineup has managed just 26 runs in the past nine games, and pretty much everyone in the bullpen not named Dellin Betances has shown a shakier side.
Therefore, you can add timely to steady and sturdy in complementing a rotation that had been mostly mid-pack in the AL this year. For in the past six games — albeit three against the offensively challenged Royals — Yankees starters have pitched to a 1.24 ERA. CC Sabathia triggered the excellence and added to it Saturday with 6 1/3 strong innings.
Sabathia, because of his age (36), mileage and injury history, particularly to his knees, was perhaps the reddest member of the Yankees’ red-flag rotation in spring. But he actually leads the Yankees in innings and has just put together his first three-start winning streak (in which he has a 1.50 ERA) since April 2013.
He continued his morph from power to Pettitte by feeding cutters in on righties. But his changeup also was excellent and with a scouting report that revealed Oakland susceptibility at the top of the zone, the savvy lefty was more aggressive than normal with his four-seam fastball. He averaged better than 91 mph with it, deploying the weapon as the finishing pitch on four of his nine strikeouts (his most since August of last year).
This followed Masahiro Tanaka’s best start in a month, and what has been pretty consistently strong work from Michael Pineda and Luis Severino, and the continuing surprise that is Jordan Montgomery. All of them — because of youth and/or injury history — were a physical concern when the season began.
But the subtle blessing is that no AL team has played fewer games than the Yankees’ 46.
“The schedule has been very favorable,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We have not had to have guys go on their fifth day a lot.”
That is coming, of course, the realities of the 162-game schedule assuring the rotation less breathers. Hence, greater stress on these starters, presaging a crack or three might develop that has yet to manifest.
“You just can’t expect to get through a season using only five [starters],” Girardi said.
Under the rosiest scenario, Tanaka, Pineda and Severino have the stuff to actually form a playoff front three, with Sabathia adding sagacity/competitiveness and Montgomery an intriguing wild card. But there is a long way to the playoffs and the AL East is getting more claustrophobic top to bottom with Toronto and Boston, in particular, playing better.
The Yankees’ rotation at least has created time for reinforcements to get through portions of their learning curves, position themselves better for the inescapable DL stints to come. But, so far, so good. The Yankees have the same five starters standing as June nears as when April began.
On Memorial Day weekend, the Yankees have the healthiest, best rotation in town. Who saw that coming?