Yankees Suddenly Are Looking Armed and Dangerous

Pitching was likely to torpedo a good to great offense. The Yankees might be able to coax a better season out of Michael Pineda or even see Luis Severino become a solid part of the rotation. But any success the Yankees have this year will be almost in spite of the pitching.

That was the idea before spring training and was reinforced in the Yankees 1-4 start. When James Kaprielian succumbed to Tommy John, even the promise of a new young ace was dashed. Yankees fans braced for a rough start to the season and the only remaining hope, that of a mid-season trade.

Suddenly, that is no longer true.

They only need one of them to become a true number two, someone who wins 18 games and throws up an ERA below 3.40 for the season. That looks increasingly likely and the smart money is on Severino.

Since Saturday the ninth, Yankees pitching as been a revelation to fans and media alike. Sabathia started that game and went 6

Innings, giving up only two ERs. That was just the warmup. Pineda went out twice in this streak, and his worst start was seven innings of two-run ball; Severino threw once before tonight (Tuesday, April 18th), with the same line.

Tanaka, in his only start, got into the 7^th and surrendered three runs while CC came back even better than the first time. He got one out in the eighth while only giving up one earned run. Jordan Montgomery was the least successful of the five, and yet his worst outing was still a quality start (6 innings/3 ER).

All of that has led to two good things. The first and by far most important is the 8-game winning streak, snapped tonight in a hard fought loss. The other is that the pitching script has been flipped. The bullpen was supposed to be better than the starting staff and save the pitchers.

Remember the mantra from last year, that the goal for the starters was to go six innings? That is no more.

Instead, because the starters are going deep into games, they have saved the bullpen from overworking early. Girardi has been able to use almost exclusively the best arms—Warren, Betances, Chapman—while still getting them all rest. All of this has added up to a 2.38 ERA for the entire Yankees pitching staff over those last eight games.

That excellent pitching continued tonight, even in a loss. It was Severino’s turn again, and he delivered another great performance. He went eight innings and officially gave up 3 ER’s. I say officially because, of his three earned runs, two came from a home run by Avisail Garcia.

Just before that hit, SS Pete Kozma booted a likely double play ball. That would have cleared the bases and turned Garcia’s blast into a solo shot. But a double play cannot be officially assumed, leaving Sevvy responsible for a runner who should have been erased. All of that means the un-official scorekeeper in my head credits Severino with an 8-inning, 2 ER performance.

Add that he struck out ten and walked exactly nobody and this start might be the best of the bunch, even in a loss. Either way, the starting pitching has been superior, and the Yankees are ebullient.

And even the minors are overproducing. Jordan Montgomery was ranked as only the 13^th best player in the Yankees system, behind other starting pitchers Albert Abreu (11), Chance Adams (8), Justus Sheffield (7) and the sadly mentioned James above Kaprielian (6). But he has come up and looked like more than just a fifth starter.

His release point, calm demeanor, and command of four pitches make him look like a possible front-line pitcher. And he’s a lefty. That alone is an advantage. The Yankees sat Greg Bird, one of their best hitters, after a three-hit game because the White Sox started a lefty. Other teams will sit their best hitters just because Montgomery is the starter.

And remember that he was supposed to be just the Yankees fourth best pitching prospect.

That might still be true, however. Abreu is doing well (0.93 ERA/17 strikeouts in 9.2 innings pitched) but is way down in Low-A. Chance Adams, however, is at Double-A and already demanding a promotion. He has started two games and pitched 11.1 innings. In that time he has pitched to a 0.79 ERA with 13 strikeouts, six walks, and no home runs allowed.

21-year old Justus Sheffield is also at Trenton and just threw his second game. In those combined 11.2 IP, he has a 0.77 ERA with five hits and 11 strikeouts. If he has two or three more like that, he will soon find himself pitching in Pennsylvania.

The Yankees system, however, is so full of pitching that even cracking the RailRiders rotation might prove difficult for Adams and Sheffield.

Luis Cessa is already there and doing quite well. In his 12.2 IP, Cessa has struck out 11 but walked only 5, has given up nine hits, and carries an ERA of 1.42 and WHIP of 1.11. But his teammate Dietrich Enns is pitching even better. He has 11 innings on his 2017 resume and has only given up four hits in those innings. Enns had struck out eight but walked only 3. And while his ERA is a little higher than Cessa’s at 1.64, his WHIP is considerably lower: 0.64.

And then there is Chad Green. He came within a left arm of winning the fifth starters job. His two starts this year at Scranton have been pretty good: 12 IP, 15 SO, only three walks and a flat 3 ERA. He does have one more hit than innings pitched (13/12) but he keeps his walks down.

Perhaps not dominating but, with his big league experience, more than good enough to replace anyone who pitches to an ERA above 4.20 in New York.

If this were 2016, Chad could have replaced Pineda (4.82), Nathan Eovaldi (4.76), or Ivan Nova (4.90). But that was last year. Mr. Green will just have to wait his turn, as will Messrs. Adams, Enns and Sheffield.

And that’s because the pitching is a bit different this year, at least so far. CC Sabathia has turned back the clock and is once again the leader of the staff with his exemplary 1.47 ERA and WHIP of 1.04. Pineda has found his focus and has an ERA of 3.44 to show for it, while he has given up fewer hits than innings (16/18.1).

But the real story of his performance so far is in the details of his stat line. Pineda has struck out 23 batters in those 18 innings and walked only one. His WHIP is 0.93. Those are legitimate indicators of success.

But the player whose numbers do not come close to showing his real domination is Luis Severino. He struggled in his first start, and his bloated ERA (4.05) reflects that fact. However, in his 20 innings pitched, he has surrendered only 14 hits while striking out 27 and walking only 2. And his WHIP? 0.80.

Even Jordan Montgomery is only slightly below the cut line with his 4.22 ERA, but he is the fifth starter. The Yankees will be in the proverbial catbird seat if their fifth starter has an ERA below 4.50 for the season. Tanaka has by far the worst numbers (8.36 ERA), but he has more than a track record and has already begun to re-establish himself as the ace.

Yankees pitching suddenly looks like the strength of the organization when it looked like the main weakness only two weeks ago. That can all change quickly. Hitters might figure out Montgomery and Pineda has shown a penchant for following dominating starts with depressing ones. One awful outing might send Severino into another emotional meltdown.

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But that is all just maybes. Right now, here on April 19^th, the Yankees have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. And that extends from the mound to the bullpen and all the way to Trenton. Plus, the Yankees do not need all of these pitchers to remain pitching at the highest level.

They only need one of them to become a real number two, someone who wins 18 games and throws up an ERA below 3.40 for the season. That looks increasingly likely, and the smart money is on Severino.

So if you want to see Dietrich Enns pitch any time soon, or Chance Adams, or Justus Sheffield, it looks like you will have to travel to a minor league park. The good news is that no matter which ballpark you watch a Yankees team play in, you are likely to see pitching excellence.

Yankees Luis Severino Let his Body Do the Talking

Severino has regained the look and swagger of El Primo. There is renewed hope in Yankees Universe that he can become the Ace he once looked to be.

Of course, I don’t know how the story of the 2017 Yankees will read at season’s end. All I know is that chapter one has been both surprising and promising. And that is all ye know in Yankees Universe, and all ye need to know.