Gerrit Cole's out, but rest of Yankees rotation has answered the call to arms
New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole looks on from the dugout before an MLB baseball game against the Miami Marlins at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Once Gerrit Cole stuck his $324 million arm into an MRI tube last month, the Yankees’ rotation — already suspect when it included the AL’s reigning Cy Young winner — figured to be a rudderless crew in his absence.
Even the rosiest forecasts didn’t point to the starting staff as a strength for a team supposedly desperate to reach October. With a healthy Cole, the Yankees at least had a sure thing every fifth day. Remove the ace, even for two months, and the rest of the deck was stacked with too many variables to count on.
That was the conventional wisdom anyway. The reality, so far, has turned out remarkably different. The rotation isn’t the primary reason why the Yankees have MLB’s best record (10-3) but they’re not winning in spite of it, either.
Before Wednesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Marlins, mostly due to Marcus Stroman’s command going AWOL early in his five-inning stint, the rotation had been pitching to the higher end of the team’s wishful projections. But Stroman’s mechanics were clearly off during a shaky third inning, which included two walks, two singles and Jake Burger’s three-run homer that put Miami up to stay, 4-0.
“I was just losing the zone,” said Stroman, who hadn’t allowed an earned run in his first 14 innings this season. “It’s very uncharacteristic of me to walk four guys. That’s not me at all.”
Even with Stroman’s outlier of an evening, the Yankees’ rotation still has the third-best ERA (2.86) in the majors, behind the Red Sox (1.42) and Royals (1.97). If you take out Nestor Cortes’ first-inning hiccup (three runs) on Opening Day in Houston, the starters’ ERA drops to 2.50 overall. And zeroing in on a more recent sample, they have a 2.31 ERA over the past seven starts, a superb stretch that includes Cortes’ eight scoreless innings in Monday’s 7-0 shutout of the Marlins and Carlos Rodon’s six-inning stint (zero earned runs) in Tuesday’s 3-2 win.
Those two names were among the staff’s biggest questions marks. Cortes, who took over Cole’s vacated No. 1 slot, was coming off last season’s shoulder issues — officially diagnosed as a stubborn rotator cuff strain — and was beginning to stir suspicion about his ability to handle a full six-month workload. As for Rodon, well, how much worse does it get than being labeled a $162 million bust in the first season of a six-year contract? But Rodon has rebounded with a 1.72 ERA in his first three starts, a performance that certainly has the Yankees relieved to some degree.
“I’m just kind of taking it step by step,” Rodon said. “I always believe in my ability and I think my teammates believe in me as well.”
Cortes was the lesser of the two concerns, if only because of Rodon’s price tag and his crumbling under that first-year pressure. But Stroman also had a few red flags due to last season’s mysterious hip and rib-cage injuries, Clarke Schmidt was getting his first full-time rotation gig and Luis Gil was thrust into the No. 5 spot after missing most of last season due to Tommy John surgery.
That was the conventional wisdom anyway. The reality, so far, has turned out remarkably different. The rotation isn’t the primary reason why the Yankees have MLB’s best record (10-3) but they’re not winning in spite of it, either.
Before Wednesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Marlins, mostly due to Marcus Stroman’s command going AWOL early in his five-inning stint, the rotation had been pitching to the higher end of the team’s wishful projections. But Stroman’s mechanics were clearly off during a shaky third inning, which included two walks, two singles and Jake Burger’s three-run homer that put Miami up to stay, 4-0.
“I was just losing the zone,” said Stroman, who hadn’t allowed an earned run in his first 14 innings this season. “It’s very uncharacteristic of me to walk four guys. That’s not me at all.”
Even with Stroman’s outlier of an evening, the Yankees’ rotation still has the third-best ERA (2.86) in the majors, behind the Red Sox (1.42) and Royals (1.97). If you take out Nestor Cortes’ first-inning hiccup (three runs) on Opening Day in Houston, the starters’ ERA drops to 2.50 overall. And zeroing in on a more recent sample, they have a 2.31 ERA over the past seven starts, a superb stretch that includes Cortes’ eight scoreless innings in Monday’s 7-0 shutout of the Marlins and Carlos Rodon’s six-inning stint (zero earned runs) in Tuesday’s 3-2 win.
For a $300 million roster, the rotation was somewhat of a dice roll beyond Cole, and passing on available free-agent upgrades like Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery only made it seem like a bigger gamble. But the Yankees chose to stay the course -- with Hal Steinbrenner sitting on his checkbook -- and they’re being rewarded so far.
“That’s our expectation,” manager Aaron Boone said before Wednesday’s game. “We feel like all the guys we’re running out there in our rotation right now are very capable. Even the ones coming off of tough seasons or injury or whatever are not far removed from being at the top of their game with a track record.”
“So it’s about getting them in a good physical place, prepared properly, then going out there and executing. With the talent those guys possess, I’m not surprised when they do go out and have success. It’s not a given by any means. But I don’t think it’s a reach with any of those guys either.”
The Yankees haven’t stumbled their way into too many best-case scenarios in recent years. Instead, Murphy’s Law has ruled the Bronx, with players who tend to break usually winding up broken.
The weird thing about this season? Cole was one of the most durable pitchers in the majors before this bout of elbow inflammation resulted in this super-rare IL trip. He averaged over 30 starts with 200-plus innings over his last six full (non-COVID) seasons, so having him on the shelf for two months (minimum) was extra-shocking for the Yankees, as people wondered if the team’s October plans would even make it to June in his absence. After 13 games, that initial panic has subsided.
“We know how good we are, and then we’ll get the addition of Gerrit, too," Schmidt said. "It’s not like we’re waiting for him. It’s more like, oh, we’re already this good, so imagine what it’s going to be like when we get him back.
“It’s just an added boost, another kick and something that we’re all excited about. But we’re definitely locked in on what we’ve got going on right now.”
Right now, it’s working for the Yankees. And each passing day, which typically ends in a "W," gets them that much closer to Cole’s return.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
