Yankees rotation is a mess, and that’s even with Sonny Gray in bullpen
Yankees pitcher Sonny Gray talks with pitching coach Larry Rothschild on the mound during a game against the Orioles at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
BOSTON
The final score of Thursday’s 15-7 beatdown by the Red Sox at Fenway Park doesn’t begin to tell the story of just how bad things could get for the Yankees with their current rotation crisis.
As ugly as that was, it was only one loss.
Far more troubling is what happened in the hours leading up to the sickening chorus of “Sweet Caroline” and the demoralized Yankees slipping out a side door to the idling team bus.
J.A. Happ was placed on the disabled list with hand, foot and mouth disease, officially bumping him from his eagerly-awaited Fenway start.
Sonny Gray was demoted to the bullpen, and if the Yankees have their way, his next start will be in another uniform.
And CC Sabathia, who had been near invincible against Boston, survived a Blake Swihart liner to the chest area only to stick around for three innings, a workload of 77 pitches, before the bullpen served up a baker’s dozen of runs in the blowout. Going in, Sabathia had been 6-0 with a 1.83 ERA in seven previous starts vs. the Red Sox.
If that isn’t a snapshot of despair, there’s more. The Yankees had to burn Luis Cessa in the process, using him to wear this unsightly mess before expressing their gratitude (presumably) with a ticket to Triple-A Scranton. Cessa had been pencilled in for Saturday, but now that honor is likely to go to Chance Adams, who has a 4.50 ERA in 21 starts for the RailRiders.
Not the ideal sort of major-league debut, facing these steamroller Sox at Fenway. The Yankees, however, are fast running out of options during what Aaron Boone referred to as a “long, arduous season.” It’s feeling longer by the hour, and even with Luis Severino going Friday night, the Yankees must be a little nervous since he’s posted an 8.84 ERA over his past four starts, including seven homers in those 19 1⁄3 innings. Or they should be.
“I can’t wait to hand him the ball and get him rolling,” Boone said after Thursday’s latest Boston Massacre. “We just need an outing to get deeper into the game and change the narrative.”
Even if Severino can’t play the ace role, the Yankees could use a human shield because their rotation is leaving them defenseless. In trying to put a palatable spin on Gray’s demotion, Boone described the Yankees’ rotation as a “fluid” situation, suggesting that the team’s newest bullpen member could get another chance.
If the Yankees still have any fading designs on the AL East title, Boone better hope that doesn’t happen. It’s clear that Gray had to go — the pitcher himself seemed relieved as he spoke to reporters in the middle of the cramped visitors clubhouse — but “fluid” is not what the rotation needs to be for the Yankees to have any prayer of catching the surging Red Sox.
We knew the Yankees’ rotation had the potential to show some cracks. But Thursday felt like the ground crumbling beneath their feet, with Brian Cashman scrambling to fill the suddenly vacated slots. Happ is expected back in relatively short order, as the virus should run its course during the 10-day DL stint. As for Gray, at least Cashman showed the foresight at this deadline to hedge against last year’s mistake by trading for Lance Lynn, who now steps into Gray’s spot. “I think it’s the best thing for everyone involved right now,” Boone said.
Definitely for the Yankees, and Gray didn’t sound like someone disappointed by his fate. Over six years, Gray has made 144 starts and only two relief appearances, yet he stepped aside without so much as a respectful word or two of protest.
If Boone is to be believed, and Gray’s stuff is not far from making him a capable starter again, then the missing piece has to be something upstairs, such as a lack of confidence. That’s not fixed by a mechanical tweak. A new zip code might help, though, even if Gray deflected a direct question regarding whether or not he could succeed in New York. “I don’t think it’s been a secret that I’ve had an up and down time here,” Gray said. “But you can have one moment that can change the narrative. If that happens for me, great. if not, I’ll just work at it.”
Fluid? The Yankees need to stop this rotation from circling the drain.
