MLB Standings ordered by ERA after a loss: Yankees among best 'bounce back' teams

Los Angeles Angels v New York Yankees
Los Angeles Angels v New York Yankees | Sarah Stier/GettyImages

When the 2023 Yankees find themselves in the loss column, their pitchers love to bear down.

It's that kind of tenacity that has helped propel an objectively undermanned team over .500 in a tough month to begin the year.

Without three-fifths of their projected Opening Day rotation, as well as key relievers Tommy Kahnle, Lou Trivino, and Jonathan Loaisiga (for the majority of the season), the Yankees (without much offense) have taken road series from the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Guardians. There are plenty of warts on this roster, but a rotation stuck with last-minute fill-in Jhony Brito, Domingo Germán and a scuffling Clarke Schmidt has still managed to hold things together.

The bullpen? Filled with unfamiliar names like Ian Hamilton, Jimmy Cordero, Colten Brewer, and (familiar, but disliked) Albert Abreu, they've still mostly managed.

And they only get more impressive coming off a loss/needing to fend off a hungry opponent.

Here's how this year's MLB teams line up by ERA after a loss, along with their records following a loss. Some surprising teams truly have been elite at preventing losing streaks in the early going.

MLB standings based off ERA after losses:

1. Milwaukee Brewers (1.17, 5-0)
2. New York Yankees (1.69, 6-1)
3. Tampa Bay Rays (2.08, 2-1)
4. Arizona Diamondbacks (2.18, 6-1)
5. Pittsburgh Pirates (2.43, 6-1)
6. Houston Astros (2.77, 7-3)
7. Cleveland Guardians (2.90, 5-4)
8. Minnesota Twins (3.11, 3-4)
9. San Francisco Giants (3.19, 6-5)
10. Texas Rangers (3.40, 4-2)
11. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (3.60, 5-3)
12. St. Louis Cardinals (3.77, 6-5)
13. Miami Marlins (3.80, 5-3)
14. New York Mets (3.84, 5-2)
15. Cincinnati Reds (3.86, 5-5)
16. Philadelphia Phillies (4.03, 6-5)
17. Chicago Cubs (4.33, 4-2)
18. San Diego Padres (4.33, 5-6)
19. Seattle Mariners (4.48, 3-7)
20. Washington Nationals (4.58, 4-8)
21. Chicago White Sox (4.64, 6-5)
22. Baltimore Orioles (4.65, 5-2)
23. Los Angeles Dodgers (4.78, 6-3)
24. Atlanta Braves (4.86, 2-2)
25. Boston Red Sox (5.24, 4-5)
26. Kansas City Royals (5.66, 3-11)
27. Toronto Blue Jays (6.20, 4-3)
28. Colorado Rockies (6.49, 2-11)
29. Detroit Tigers (6.61, 2-7)
30. Oakland Athletics (8.05, 2-13)

Key takeaways? These map out pretty well with the way the league has started the season in general, save for a few key exceptions. The Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox have somehow managed to survive post-losses despite posting hideous ERAs, which is par for the course for those solid offensive (and extremely lucky) teams.

How about those Los Angeles Dodgers, though? Is there an unforeseen pitching problem here? Or was it extremely foreseen once Walker Buehler was eliminated for the year and they replaced him with Noah Syndergaard and some prospects?

Most importantly, the Yankees look impressive here for their ability to buckle down in a moderate-not-huge early-season sample size. Hopefully, they keep it going when they have to. But really hopefully, it'd be best if they just never lost in the first place.

Schedule