Yankees and Red Sox have similarly dominant but thin pitching staffs
By Cory Claus
Sunny Days
RHP Gray was the Ace of the Athletics staff when he came over in July, but the A’s weren’t all that good. However, even though his ERA went up slightly (3.43 with Oakland/3.72 with NY), he still proved to be a front-line starter.
Gray pitched in only two postseason games for a total of 8.1 innings last year, but at least his second start was auspicious as he went five innings and gave up just one earned run. Having him as the Yankees third best pitcher gives them an advantage over most clubs.
However, just because I listed Gray third does not mean he will be pitching in that slot. No, it probably makes more sense to insert a left-hander between the first two righties and Gray. And that means LHP CC Sabathia.
Sabathia is working on a one-year deal as his exceptional career winds down. But his value both on the field and in the clubhouse is incalculable, as Severino told me back in February:
Pater Familias
More importantly, Sabathia put up excellent numbers in 2017. After wandering in the wasteland for years trying to go from a young fire-baller to a crafty vet, Sabathia’s ERA last year (3.69) was his best since 2012.
His exceptional postseason was capped by his two starts in the ALCS, which yielded a minuscule 0.96 ERA.
The problem for Sabathia, and the Yankees is not how well he threw, but how many times. CC only logged 148 IP last year, down from 179 just the year before. And that fantastic ERA in the post? He threw only 9.1 innings en route to it.
But modern bullpens are built for the Sabathia’s of the world, as long as the others can carry their weight. That should not be an issue for LHP Jordan Montgomery: After logging 163 total innings between the majors and minors last season, he should have no restrictions.
Again, this is excellent news for the Yankees. Montgomery had a great first half, then stopped throwing his change-up. But he still finished with 3.88 ERA over his 29 starts, good enough for sixth in the Rookie of the Year voting.
When every starter has an ERA below four; when there are two legitimate Aces on the staff; and, when your third best pitcher was another team’s best; that is when you have the makings of an elite staff.
That seems like a lot of good news for the Bombers. The bad news? Their division rival Red Sox might have a better one.