Where have you gone, Whitey Ford? A rotation turns its lonely eyes to you. (AP)
Back on September 2, CC Sabathia pitched eight innings of one-hit baseball. With this evening's Sabathia start, the Yankees have made a complete trip through the rotation since, comprising starts by (in order) Ivan Nova, Javier Vazquez, Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett, and finally Sabathia. The standard for a "quality start" is six innings, three earned runs or less. This is just a way of saying, "the starting pitcher gave his team a fair chance of winning." This last trip through the rotation produced no quality starts, 0-for-5. The five starters combined to pitch 28.2 innings, allow 33 hits, 12 walks, 21 strikeouts, and 24 runs, all but one of them earned. That's a 7.53 RA. Andy Pettitte can't come back too soon. Him or Whitey Ford.
...No? Wouldja take Waite Hoyt? I think they would.