The New York Yankees’ starting rotation has been one of their bigger question marks over the past three seasons. Is some of their youth ready to claim their rightful spot?
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. The New York Yankees have some serious question marks surrounding their starting rotation. It isn’t a striking revelation. Their starting rotation has been inconsistent since 2012.
Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda have been the mainstays, but they have been far from reliable. Tanaka is the best of the bunch, but has yet to throw 200 innings in a season from constant queries about the health of his arm. The fourth and fifth slots have seemed to be an open audition for four seasons now.
The Yankees made a lot of strides via the draft and through trades, but most of those arms are still at least a year away. Justus Sheffield, James Kaprielian, Domingo Acevedo, Albert Abreu and Dillon Tate (although he looked great out of the bullpen last year) make for exciting options in 2018 and beyond. The Yankees need to fill slots this season.
The safest assumption at a starting rotation would be to peg in Tanaka, Sabathia, Pineda, Adam Warren with Luis Severino getting a second chance to shine. Warren and Severino come with as many question marks as the Yankees’ — for lack of a better description — “Big Three.” Are they better served in the bullpen, or are they truly rotation material?
Warren is coming off the worst year of his career, and has long been yo-yoed back and forth between the rotation and pen. While he has shown flashes of brilliance as a starter, his time in the bullpen was sensational.
Severino could be better served in the bullpen as well. The Yankees rushed Severino and he was brilliant in his rookie debut. The problem was he never learned how to pitch. Severino got by on a fastball (one with little movement at that), but his secondary stuff needed refining. He paid the price last season once opponents figured him out at the next level. Just 22, he still has good stuff, and has worked hard this offseason, so he will merit a second run in the rotation.
So, do the Yankees have any arms ready to crack the rotation now?