Yankees: 3 early-season stats that will make fans vomit

What the most discouraging aspect of the New York Yankees‘ dreadful start to the 2021 MLB season?

There’s a stat for everything. For every single one of their failures. For every single streak of incompetence. Some are making overall history. Some are making personal history. Some are just league-worst numbers. You name it, the Yankees got it.

But we truly didn’t think we’d get here. How is this happening with everyone?

Even those we thought were impervious to all-time confounding stretches of play — like DJ LeMahieu — are very much immersed in this interminable nightmare.

Each and every night, the stats get worse, too. To be honest, most fans were expecting the usual futility from guys like Gary Sanchez, who’s batting .182, and Giancarlo Stanton, who’s batting .192. Those things didn’t really take anybody by surprise to kick off 2021 since the warning signs were there.

But these players and areas of the roster? They’re largely out of left field, whether it’s due to who it is or how insanely bad the statistic is. And if they don’t turn around, it’s going to be a big, big problem.

Here are three early-season stats that will make Yankees fans vomit.

3. Outside of Gerrit Cole, the Starting Rotation is … BAD

Everyone knew the starting rotation would be a work in progress. That’s no secret.

Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon have hardly pitched in two years. Domingo German missed over a year. Jordan Montgomery was deprived of his full comeback campaign in 2020 after the pandemic shortened it to 60 games. The only permanent checkmark was Gerrit Cole.

What’s crazy is that each and every year, Yankees fans don’t expect much from the rotation. God bless Masahiro Tanaka, but he’s not an ace, and he was ours for years. Starters 2-5 always felt like, “Alright, what the hell. Let’s see what happens.”

The 2021 season was different because it appeared there was a foundation of sorts. After almost the first month of action, that couldn’t be more incorrect. (Quick disclaimer: this was before Kluber’s promising outing on Tuesday night).

Most of them can’t get out of the fourth inning! That’s not a starter, that’s a middle reliever!

Let’s check the stats, shall we?

• Corey Kluber: 1-2 with a 4.15 ERA and 1.71 WHIP in five starts (21.2 total innings)
• Jameson Taillon: 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in four starts (17.1 total innings)
• Jordan Montgomery: 1-1 with a 4.57 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in four starts (21.2 total innings)
• Domingo German: 1-2 with a 6.23 ERA and 1.69 WHIP in three starts (13 total innings)

Kluber and Taillon have yet to make it past five innings. Kluber hasn’t gotten out of the fourth.

The new experiment with the rotation is off to arguably the worst start imaginable.