While Gerrit Cole Recovers, The New York Yankees Are Looking Forward To Another Special Man To Take Them To Where They Desire This Season

While Gerrit Cole Recovers, The New York Yankees Are Looking Forward To Another Special Man To Take Them To Where They Desire This Season

 

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the pitching performances the Yankees are getting from their starters is none of those tosses are being thrown by Gerrit Cole.

 

Unless you count Cole’s progress in making throws during his bullpen sessions during his recovery from an elbow injury that seems likely to last into June.

 

With 33 wins in 48 games – the same as two years ago – the Yankees possess a 2.81 ERA, which is 14 points lower than 2022 when they also began 33-15. The Yankees are doing while averaging 8.7 strikeouts per game as compared to 9.2 strikeouts through this point in 2022 en route to 99 wins.

 

“I acknowledged the questions just based on guys coming off of injury, off a down performance, whatever it may be,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday morning. But all the guys we’re talking about, I know they’re capable of what they’re doing so far.”

 

Cole has been out since mid-March and some advocated for spending on free agents Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, a left-handed duo who signed with San Francisco and Arizona respectively.

 

There were calls to make those moves because questions persisted about the rotation beyond Cole, whose defense of the Cy Young was halted when the injury was revealed.

 

Questions persisted about Marcus Stroman, who dealt with some injuries last year with the Cubs. Another involved whether Nestor Cortes could revert back to 2022 after pitching once after May 30 last season and another inquiry was whether Clarke Schmidt could take the next step after a career-high in innings last season.

 

Perhaps the biggest concern involved Carlos Rodón, whose first season of a six-year, $162 million contract was a nightmare because of a forearm, elbow and then a brief hamstring injury. The first two ailments kept Rodon from taking the mound shortly before the All-Star break when the 2023 season began spiraling downward and once he did pitch, he was 3-8 with a 6.85 ERA in 14 starts that spanned 64 1/3 innings.

 

Rodon is about nine innings shy of last season’s total and also has two more wins after the Yankees made it seven straight games with a starter going at least six and allowing two runs or fewer. It is the first time since July 6-16, 2010 the Yankees have done it and back then their rotation consisted of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes and Javier Vazquez.

 

“I sit down in the dugout now and look around, and I feel pretty comfortable sitting in this stadium,” Rodón said. “I thought about that the first month here in April. I’m looking around and I’m like, ‘This doesn’t feel overwhelming anymore. This feels like home.’”

 

And his latest comfortable outing saw him pitch while still recovering from being under the weather and featured 23 swings and misses against the team who made him a first-round pick in 2014 and saw him pitch a no-hitter early in the 2021 season, which resulted in a contract with the San Francisco Giants and eventually the signing in Dec. 2022.

 

The latest strong start also occurred a day after Luis Gil loaded the bases in the first inning and then set a rookie record with 14 strikeouts, breaking the mark set in 1998 by Orlando Hernández. And perhaps Gil was another big question given his recovery from the Tommy John surgery in 2022 and for a fifth starter, he is remarkably dominant.

 

Cole will eventually return but in the meantime, the Yankees will keep savoring what their rotation is achieving on the way to getting the best record in the American League.

 

“I acknowledged the questions just based on guys coming off of injury, off a down performance, whatever it may be,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday morning. But all the guys we’re talking about, I know they’re capable of what they’re doing so far.”