New York Yankees have rough week with pitching

The past few days have not gone as the New York Yankees would have imagined.

They were expected to land Luis Castillo, only to see him head to the Mariners. To make matters worse, Castillo shut them down on Wednesday. The Yankees traded Jordan Montgomery to the Cardinals, only to watch him shut them down on Friday.

New York Yankees pitching does not go as planned

At least the Yankees were able to land Frankie Montas. He made his debut on Sunday against those same Cardinals, a game in which the Yankees hoped that they would get back on track. Instead, Montas was hit hard early, allowing six runs on five hits and three walks over three innings.

Obviously, it is too early to extrapolate anything from these games. It is just one outing for each of those pitchers. Castillo will not dominate during every outing for the Mariners just like how Montas will not be used as batting practice by each of the Yankees opponents.

However, those two will be forever linked in the minds of Yankees fans. Montas was the consolation prize for missing out on Castillo, someone who was supposed to be almost as good, if not the same pitcher. That very well could be the case, although losing Montgomery from a team that needed pitching depth may prove to be the biggest loss.

It also does not help that the Yankees have scuffled in the past few days. They have lost five in a row, dropping two of three to the Mariners and were swept by the Cardinals. This follows a lackluster July that saw the Yankees post a 13-13 record. While the Yankees, still hold a comfortable lead in the AL East, that will not result in a championship. These pitching moves could go a long way to determining who advances in October.

The New York Yankees have been haunted by the pitchers of past, present, and never were over the past week. It did not work out as hoped.