The Yankees have largely bounced back from their summer slump and are beginning to regain their momentum, taking a seat at the helm on Friday in a tie with the Orioles for first place in the American League East.
But their rotation remains neutral.
The Yankees’ starting pitching, one of the biggest reasons for their 10-23 slump, has not fully recovered from its slump even after an 8-3 rally, leaving many questions about what the Yankees can expect from their starting pitchers with the final two months of the regular season in sight of October.
Through June 14, the Yankees had the best starting ERA in the major leagues at 2.77, but after June 15, it dropped to its highest level of 6.26.
The starting pitchers have struggled with long hits, been unable to end innings and get out of tight spots, and have not been able to extend their throwing distance much, putting a strain on the bullpen.
During the Yankees’ best run through the first two and a half months of the season, their starting pitchers were consistently slugging out in games (5.68 innings per game, third best through June 14) and giving their team a chance to win every night.
In the 44 games since then, they averaged just 4.93 innings per game, ranking 23rd in the major leagues, while their opponents batted .281 (28th).
“Our guys are capable,” manager Aaron Boone said Thursday night before the Yankees’ loss on Friday. “We have everything we need.”
“Obviously we’ve had some rough patches along the way, but we feel like we have some guys that are in a good spot. … We have guys that can go, we just need to use a few guys well and perform at the next level.”
Luis Gil, who pitched five scoreless innings on Wednesday, is back on track with a 1.93 ERA over his past five starts, but he needs to be careful with his pitching load late in the innings.
Carlos Rodon, who will start the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Rangers, appears to be on a roll after posting a 3.18 ERA over his past four starts.
Gerrit Cole, who will start Game 2 on Saturday, has looked his best in three of his past four starts.
But that also includes an absence last week due to “general fatigue,” which was believed to be partly due to gastroenteritis and partly due to the fact that he is still trying to get back into shape after missing the first two-and-a-half months of the season with an elbow injury.
“Any time you put the ball in Gerrit’s hands, you expect good things, and he’s spoiled us with that, for sure,” Boone said. “The last game was really encouraging. I think he just got a little sick with the stomach flu or something.”
However, Nestor Cortes and Marcus Stroman have yet to emerge from their slump.
Cortes owns a 7.49 ERA in his past seven starts, with only one of those starts covering six innings.
Stroman (who was given extra bullpen sessions this week to work on his pitching motion) has a 6.87 ERA in his past eight starts, only one of which involved six innings.
“I don’t think Nestor is that far away,” Boone said. “Just got to finish the execution. Stro, we’ve got to get going a little bit more.”
General manager Brian Cashman was looking to bolster his starting rotation at the trade deadline and tried to acquire Jack Flaherty from the Tigers, but the Yankees were not pleased with the right-hander’s medical and were unable to match the Tigers for value.
The Yankees have Clarke Schmidt recovering from a lat strain, but he still needs to overcome several hurdles before he could potentially return to the rotation by the end of the month.
If everyone stays healthy until then (not a guarantee), either Cortez or Stroman could be removed from the starting rotation.
Meanwhile, it will be the current starting five that come out of this situation.
“I think the challenge now is for our starters to get off to a good start and keep that momentum going, because when we were at our best, our starters were hitting for extra bases and giving hitters a chance,” Cortes said last week. “That’s just the way we are.”
That is certainly what they once were and what they need to be again.
