David Cone’s accidental Gerrit Cole shade shows how good Yankees’ rotation is

When thinking of New York Yankees players likely to appear in the All-Star Game, there are a few obvious, shoe-in options. Aaron Judge, Clay Holmes and Nestor Cortes. Easy.

But there are many others to make an argument for. Giancarlo Stanton is one. What about … Jose Trevino?! No, seriously! He’s been great.

The pitching staff has a ton more options, though, and former Yankee David Cone spoke at length about it on Jomboy Media’s “Toeing the Slab” podcast. Cone, who broadcasts games for the Yankees as well as ESPN (Sunday Night Baseball) has recently endured an ascension on the big screen because of his one-of-a-kind ability to make sense of advanced metrics while also considering the core, human aspects of the game.

And if anybody knows pitching, it’s Cone, who played in three separate decades during his illustrious MLB career.

So who else does Cone think has a shot at getting the nod to the Midsummer Classic? He’s watched plenty of Yankees baseball, which means fans can surely trust his insight.

At the same time, though … he might’ve shaded the Yankees’ highest-paid player in Gerrit Cole, who somehow has been the least impressive starter in New York’s rotation.

David Cone’s accidental shade of Gerrit Cole shows how good the Yankees’ rotation is

We’re not meaning to stir up anything here, but Cone literally listed every other starter (except Jordan Montgomery, who also has better numbers) with Cole nowhere to be found despite his (at the time of this video clip) 3.33 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 91 strikeouts in 73 innings.

The indirect shade here just speaks to how good the Yankees’ starting rotation is. Just look at this (again, shortly after the video clip was released):

• Nestor Cortes – 1.94 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 0.93 WHIP and 75 strikeouts in 12 starts (69.2 innings)
• Jordan Montgomery – 2.72 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 0.95 WHIP and 56 strikeouts in 13 starts (72.2 innings)
• Jameson Taillon – 2.93 ERA, 3.15 FIP, 1.05 WHIP and 52 strikeouts in 12 starts (67.2 innings)
• Luis Severino – 2.80 ERA, 3.45 FIP, 1.03 WHIP and 71 strikeouts in 11 starts (61 innings)
• Gerrit Cole – 3.33 ERA, 3.38 FIP, 1.07 WHIP and 91 strikeouts in 13 starts (73 innings)

Everyone else is better statistically, no arguing that! Cole’s numbers are still wildly impressive though when you consider he’s managed to put forth two of the worst starts of his career among those 13 this year. Ace-like stuff without a doubt, but he’ll always be held to a largely unachievable standard because of the $324 million contract he signed.

Cole could quickly change the narrative with back-to-back quality outings against the Rays and Astros on the docket, but right now he’s been the least admired Yankees starter and, in fact, has been the sole source of criticism for the unit in 2022.

That, my friends, is what we call “baseball.”

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