Chad Green Joins the Yankees Rotation

New York Yankees pitcher Chad Green will get the start Wednesday against the New York Mets in place of the traded Ivan Nova. He is expected to remain in the rotation for the foreseeable future.

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi announced before Tuesday night’s game that 25-year-old pitcher Chad Green, who had been pitching out of the bullpen recently, will take the departed Ivan Nova’s place in the rotation Wednesday against the New York Mets.

“He’s lined up perfect,” Girardi told Chad Jennings of the Journal News. “He threw the day that Nova threw — 67 pitches — and he’s lined up perfect.”

Jennings notes that this is not merely a spot start. Girardi plans to give Green regular turns in the rotation.

IvanNova was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for two players to be named before Monday’s trade deadline, but it wasn’t announced until now which of the Yankees promising young starters would get the first look.

The obvious candidate was Luis Severino, who was electric in his first stint in the Bronx in 2015, but struggled to start this year, pitching to a 7.46 ERA in 35 innings before hitting the disabled list with a triceps injury. 

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The club made it clear at the time that Severino’s poor performance through his first seven starts had nothing to do with that injury and optioned him to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre once he was healthy.

It’s difficult to assess just how successful Severino was at addressing the difficulties he was having with his slider and location just by scouting the stat line, but he did make 10 strong starts for the Railriders (2.94 FIP and 8.06 K/9). Maybe not as dominant as you would like at this point, but certainly not bad.

The Yankees have had the 22-year-old working out of the bullpen since a late-July promotion. He has four scoreless and hitless innings under his belt during this big league stint, with five strikeouts and two walks. It’s a small sample, but promising nontheless.

Clearly the Yankees believe Severino still has some work to do before he gets another chance in the rotation. Chad Green is a live arm and a nice pitcher to have on your staff, but he has nowhere near the ceiling of Luis Severino.

Green came over from the Tigers along with Luis Cessa in the Justin Wilson trade this winter. He’s made three starts and four relief appearances for the Yankees in 2016, compiling a 4.56 ERA in 23.2 innings of work. He’s struck out an impressive 10.26 batters per nine while only giving up 2.28 walks every nine.

The big issue for Green in the majors has been the longball. He’s given up seven home runs in his seven plate appearances (2.66 HR/9). Most Yankees starters have ugly home run rates because of their home stadium, but that is still an ugly number.

A strong performance with Triple-A Scranton in the first half earned Chad Green the 22nd spot on MLB Pipeline’s  recently updated 2016 Prospect Watch. They see him as a potential number four starter and note his velocity spike since joining the Yankees organization.

Green’s best asset is easily his mid-90’s heater, which can touch 97. He is a big guy (listed at 6’3 215 lb) who has the potential to be a workhorse at the back of a rotation. His secondary pitches (slider and changeup) are unremarkable, but the overall package still looks like a useful starter.