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Whether Yankee fans choose to admit it or not, New York has been blessed with not only starting pitching depth, but quality pitching as well. Let's take a look at combined starting pitching statistics for the New York Yankees since 2000 in the following chart. All the information was been taken from Fangraphs.com.
|
Yr |
W |
L |
G |
IP |
K/9 |
BB/9 |
HR/9 |
BABIP |
LOB% |
GB% |
HR/FB |
ERA |
FIP |
xFIP |
WAR |
WAR rank |
|
2011 |
57 |
35 |
119 |
740.1 |
6.97 |
2.87 |
0.92 |
0.291 |
73.80% |
45.30% |
9.70% |
3.72 |
3.85 |
3.79 |
12.4 |
7th |
|
2010 |
72 |
50 |
162 |
973 |
6.97 |
3.26 |
1.21 |
0.287 |
72.60% |
43.60% |
11.30% |
4.35 |
4.48 |
4.18 |
10.7 |
22nd |
|
2009 |
63 |
42 |
162 |
935 |
7.48 |
3.62 |
1.05 |
0.301 |
70.40% |
43.90% |
10.60% |
4.48 |
4.31 |
4.25 |
16 |
9th |
|
2008 |
59 |
53 |
162 |
898.1 |
6.19 |
2.77 |
0.86 |
0.318 |
68.80% |
47.40% |
9.20% |
4.58 |
4.05 |
4.18 |
16.3 |
8th |
|
2007 |
65 |
47 |
162 |
921 |
5.61 |
3.11 |
0.91 |
0.306 |
69.60% |
45.20% |
8.70% |
4.57 |
4.44 |
4.58 |
14.2 |
9th |
|
2006 |
74 |
42 |
162 |
933.2 |
5.84 |
2.71 |
1.06 |
0.292 |
68.80% |
46.10% |
10.10% |
4.54 |
4.39 |
4.5 |
15.4 |
8th |
|
2005 |
70 |
51 |
162 |
965.1 |
6.11 |
2.74 |
1.08 |
0.302 |
69.30% |
48.00% |
11.00% |
4.59 |
4.34 |
4.29 |
13.9 |
14th |
|
2004 |
70 |
46 |
162 |
942.1 |
6.55 |
2.57 |
1.27 |
0.3 |
68.20% |
42.40% |
11.30% |
4.82 |
4.4 |
4.34 |
14.5 |
8th |
|
2003 |
83 |
42 |
163 |
1066 |
6.91 |
1.96 |
0.91 |
0.302 |
70.00% |
44.50% |
10.00% |
4.02 |
3.56 |
3.71 |
25.4 |
1st |
|
2002 |
79 |
41 |
161 |
1024.2 |
7.32 |
2.38 |
0.97 |
0.291 |
70.40% |
41.60% |
9.60% |
3.97 |
3.64 |
3.8 |
22.8 |
3rd |
|
2001 |
64 |
48 |
161 |
974.1 |
7.79 |
2.83 |
1.11 |
0.305 |
70.50% |
4.34 |
3.95 |
18.8 |
4th |
|||
|
2000 |
65 |
58 |
161 |
964.2 |
6.39 |
3.41 |
1.24 |
0.29 |
69.40% |
4.87 |
4.77 |
13.5 |
13th |
The first trend I noticed, and it doesn't come as a surprise, is that the number of innings pitched definitely seems to give the greatest variation to league rank in WAR. It's more than likely that a greater number of innings would indicate quality pitching, or else why leave a starter on the mound? New York averages 6.22 innings out of their starters per game in 2011. If that trend holds for the final 43 games of the season, the Yankees are currently on track to top 1,000 innings (1,008 or so) for only the first time since 2003 and the third time since the beginning of the 21st century.
The Yankees look to be in much better shape this year than they were last year. Anytime the big questions being asked surround the rotation order for the playoffs, not much is going wrong. Lower HR/9 and BB/9 rates have certainly brought New York into the top 25% of baseball in pitching. Having five established starters can't hurt much, either.
If Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia can hold up until the end of the season, they'll no doubt be amongst Brian Cashman's best (and perhaps luckiest) moves since becoming general manager. Both of them were signed as low-risk, high reward players that could only improve New York's rotation. In 42 games (21 each), they've combined for a WAR of 4.5 and lessened the blow of an injured Phil Hughes and a retired Andy Pettitte.
There's also this guy by the name of Ivan Nova who has shown flashes of brilliance more often than not since April 26.
So while A.J. Burnett is ripped apart for inexplicably being the recipient of a win only once since late June and Phil Hughes learns to maintain control over his fastball more effectively, let's take a moment to reflect on how fortunate the Yankees have been so far. This season could have been a much different story if Colon and Garcia didn't step up.
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