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).