Yankees fans can't believe the juxtaposition between this April and last April

Heading into spring training last year, it seemed as if the New York Yankees had an embarrassment of riches in their starting rotation. So much so that they were desperate (and unsuccessful) to trade Marcus Stroman to unload his contract and problematic option.

The heat to move on from Stroman kicked into overdrive when he announced that he was a starter and not a reliever, despite the fact that there were at least five better rotation arms ahead of him in the pecking order.

Then Gerrit Cole went down. And Clarke Schmidt. And Luis Gil. Suddenly, Stroman went from a less-than-ideal surplus to a potential lifeline. Not only that, the incredible depth had thinned out and then some, leaving the Yankees scrambling and turning to Carlos Carrasco.

Unfortunately, Stroman quickly proved to be a liability, not a lifeline, and Cookie's 38-year-old right arm had far too much mileage on it to be effective. With those two occupying two-fifths of the rotation spots, the unit proved to be below average, coming in with a 19th-ranked 4.25 ERA.

Fast forward to today, and despite Cole still recovering from Tommy John surgery and Carlos Rodón's unfortunate offseason shoulder surgery, New York's rotation ranks third in the majors with a 2.98 ERA.

The Yankees' rotation is substantially better in 2026, but weak points still exist

It took until the trade deadline for the Yankees to rid themselves of Stroman and Carrasco. Somehow, they managed to swap Carrasco for a player to be named later or cash. Then, on August 1, they finally cut bait and DFA'd Stroman.

By August 1, Cam Schlittler was beginning to get his sea legs. After getting promoted and making his first career start on July 9, Schlittler entered August with three outings under his belt and a 4.91 ERA. From August 1, 2025, through the present day, he's made 16 starts with a 2.30 ERA, establishing himself as a true ace in the process.

With that said, there are still threats. Since returning from the IL last season, Luis Gil has a worse xFIP than both Stroman and Carrasco ... though he just dominated the Red Sox on Tuesday night. His upside is greater than Stroman and Carrasco combined, so at least we can cling to that.

At the same time, Ryan Weathers has been somewhat erratic from start to start. Through five outings, he's thrown two gems — an eight-inning outing against the Athletics on April 9 and 7 1/3 scoreless frames on April 19 against the Kansas City Royals. He also has two outings in which he's failed to complete five innings and another one against the Los Angeles Angels that saw him last exactly five innings, but gave up four homers in the process (including back-to-back-to-back blasts in the first inning).

Weathers might develop some consistency, but even if he doesn't, the cavalry will be back sooner than it was last year. Regardless, the Yankees are in a much better position to start 2026 than they were to start 2025, and for that, we can all be thankful.

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