FanPost

We Are Who We Thought We Were

The Yankees current three game slide has only displayed what was already known to be true, the starting rotation may not be consistent. Coming into the season the Yankees had more questions then answers in regard to their starters. It was uncertain what to expect from Sabathia, Severino and Pineda as they all had struggles last year but at times show flashes of their capabilities. The fifth spot was open and filled by rookie Jordan Montgomery and the only thing known for sure was that Tanaka was going to be the number one.

Fast forward through the first 40 games of the season and the Yankees have surprised everyone, including Yankee fans, by playing to a record of 24-16 and only 1/2 a game out of first place. They have done it with a dynamic offense that leads the AL in runs scored, and up until May had solid if not great pitching. As we near the end of May, the team ERA splits speak to the inconsistency the staff has pitched to. In April the Yankees were second in the AL with a 3.35 ERA, but so far in May they have posted a 4.78 ERA which is next to last in the league. They are 9-8 so far this month and with none of their AL east rivals having great months either are still at the top of the division jockeying with the Baltimore Orioles.

The first pitcher everyone is going to point to is Masahiro Tanaka, and rightfully so. He has a balloon like ERA of 6.56 for the season and a mammoth 27, yes 27 not a typo, ERA in the last week! After the Jeter retirement ceremony last Sunday the Astros smacked him around for eight runs in 1.2 innings. The Yankees did end up scoring seven runs, but you can never tell how differently a team will attack the opposing hitters when they have a huge early lead as opposed to a close game through out. Yesterday was a different story. The Rays scored a run off of Tanaka in each of the first three innings, but the Yankees were keeping it close and battling back until Tanaka gave up a three run bomb to Corey Dickerson in the bottom of the fourth making it 6-3 and losing 9-5.

Whenever Tanaka goes through a string of a few bad consecutive starts, you have to think about that slight tear in his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Simply put, Tanaka can be one pitch away from Tommy John surgery and be gone for the rest of this season and most of next season. As good as this team can be, their hopes lie heavily on a pitcher who is technically pitching hurt. Tanaka can opt out of his contract with the Yankees at the end of this year, which puts him in the drivers seat when it comes to handling his arm. He surely wanted to have a magnificent season this year so he could opt out and demand more money from the Yankees or test the free agent market. What it looks like will happen is he could have a sub-par season and obviously will choose not to opt out. For the present, the Yankees need him to figure it out and pitch at least decent for a guy who is supposed to be the ace of the staff.

C.C. Sabathia also had a strong start to his season throwing magnificently in his first two starts. His last start looked like those first two, pitching 6.2 innings of shutout ball in Kansas City. His ERA is just under five, but this is what we have come to expect from the aging veteran. With the significant dip in velocity since his days of throwing 95+ with that nasty slider, it's all about hitting his spots. Some games he will locate his fastball on the corners and his slider will have good bite, others he will be around the middle of the plate and get hit hard. He has become a "pitcher"instead of a "thrower" out of necessity of course, but he knows how to get hitters out still. In 2015 had he not put himself in rehab before the wild card game against Houston, it can be argued he should have had that start as down the stretch of that year he was the Yankees best pitcher.

Severino and Pineda are looking to be the 1-2 punch the Yankees can rely on to give good games, which is good news as they are the younger pitchers in the rotation with the exception of Montgomery. The Yankees would like to see Severino go past five innings more consistently, but he has tossed a couple of gems on the road against the Red Sox and Cubs which was very impressive.

Montgomery is a rookie with good stuff and the Yankees seem they are going to roll with his ups and downs. If they can afford to go through his bumps and stay competitive then it will be great for him to develop his stuff at the big league level.

The Yankees have the resources to make a trade for any pitchers that hit the trade block. Teams will ask for the Yankees top prospects in return for the likes of a Carlos Quintana from the White Sox or a Gerrit Cole from the Pirates. That would be something GM Brian Cashman would mull over as he worked a lot of magic to acquire the young talent making the Yankees the second rated farm system.

The Yankees are off to a good start and the offense has been great. The pitching has shown that at times it can be great, but at other times not so much. Yankee fans are eager to see this team make the playoffs and see what they can do, but they can't be expected to carry the better majority of the pitching staff over the long haul.

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