Yankees Are Realizing Pitching Wins Championships

I will say it time-and-again, pitching wins championships. The New York Yankees are finally shifting their mindset away from the offensive side of the game, and beginning to look at the defensive side of the game. It may not be a bad idea either after considering the struggles of the offense in 2014.

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The Yankees finished 20th in the league with 633 runs scored. Furthermore, they posted a disgusting -31 run differential. If the Yanks could have prohibited runs from scoring with bolstered pitching than maybe they had a shot at the AL East.

The recent acquisition of Andrew Miller shows the direction that Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner are heading. The front office has been fairly quiet this off-season and decided against bidding on the big bat free agents Pablo Sandoval, and Hanley Ramirez. Instead they pursued a piece for the bullpen which can shorten almost any game.

If the Yankees continue this push and sign David Robertson then they might have the best late game combination in Miller, Dellin Betances, and Robertson. Those three on the tail-end of any game will help the rotation woes that the Yankees face in 2015.

The Yankees are modeling their success after the current pitching trend that has seen success. If we analyze the past five World Series champions (2010-2014) we can see just how dominant pitching is. The San Francisco Giants have won three of the last five World Series and each team was led there by pitching. In all three championship seasons they were in the top 10 for ERA and innings pitched.

Still not buying my argument?

Lets look at a different club then.

In 2011 the St. Louis Cardinals won and finished the regular season eighth in ERA and fifth in innings pitched. How about the 2013 Boston Red Sox who finished sixth in ERA and seventh in innings pitched. The case can be made over and over that pitching wins championships and the Yankees have finally seen the shift in the course to victory.

They are no longer looking to overpay bats and instead are looking to overpay pitchers. I would not be surprised to hear that the Yankees make under-the-radar moves for Max Scherzer or Jon Lester. However, they may choose to wait until next off-season to address the rotation because of the cluster of big name pitchers who will be free agents.

It is just a matter of going back to eighth grade science and studying the word adaptation. It is a dangerous world and only those who adapt can win the survival of the fittest.

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