After an 8-2 start, the runaway subway in the Bronx has stalled. The Yankees have slid to 13-9, a mark saved by a sweep of the lowly Royals this past weekend. The decline is mostly thanks to some unproductivity in the latter half of the lineup, but that also came with some blow-up performances by some opposing offenses.
The big story heading into the season was the Yankees’ pitchers, especially after losing high-leverage arms in Devin Williams and Luke Weaver. With Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole out for most of the season, there was also plenty of uncertainty surrounding the starting rotation for the Yankees.
It is evident that the arms are stretched thin; however, despite that, they have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball so far this year. Through the first six games, they set an MLB record for combined ERA to start a season.
They’ve since returned to Earth, and the concerns about each pitcher on staff have become more revealing.
Yankees Pitchers With No Concerns
Let’s just get the no-brainers out of the way. Max Fried and Cam Schlittler. Arguably the best one-two combo in the league. When the Yankees’ lineup feels like being productive, these guys are an auto-win.
Max Fried
Fried has been as reliable as ever with a 2.97 ERA that jumped from 1.93 after allowing five-earned against the Angels. Fried can go deep into games and save bullpen arms when he has his best stuff, and he has already proved that this year in his eight-inning performance in the Trop.
And the hype is very much real with Schlittler. He is off to a Cy Young-level start this season, and it isn’t ridiculous to say he deserves as much respect as some of the league’s best pitchers.
Cam Schlittler
So far this year, Schlittler has the second most strikeouts in the league at 36 and a top-12 ERA at 1.95. Throwing three pitches in the mid-to-upper 90’s that move as much as his certainly help make the guy unhittable.
Throw in a sneakily good Will Warren to the mix, and a healthy Rodon and Cole, and this starting rotation is a true powerhouse.
However, the bullpen reliability starts and ends with Tim Hill.
Hill has been the most consistent reliever in pinstripes, and shockingly, one of the most consistent in the league. He is a funky lefty with a negative arm slot and weird throwing mechanics, and teams just haven’t touched him this year.
He doesn’t bring much velocity, but his four-seam tails about 11 inches more than league average, and his sinker drops by more than a foot compared to the league average. Despite not being a strikeout guy, his WHIP is incredible at 0.56. Through nine innings, he’s allowed one run and only five hits and has yet to walk a batter. The guy just gets outs.
Yankees Pitchers With a Little Concern
Brent Headrick has been more than serviceable with a 1.59 ERA and the most innings in relief for the Yanks so far. However, teams have frequently been just one base hit away from derailing his reliability. He has given up 12 hits and walked five, and opposing lineups are hitting .279 against him. His slider, with a 58% whiff rate, has allowed him to dig himself out of trouble.
Fernando Cruz has been awesome for the most part, but raises some significant concerns regarding the number of batters he walks. He has the fifth-highest BB/9 rate among league relievers at 8.59. But he’s also struck out 10 batters through 7.1 innings, and batters have a .160 average against him, which is the best on the roster.
Halfway Worried Pitchers
True to his name, Ryan Weathers has been a fair-weather friend. He really struggled during spring training and then made a short and sweet four-inning, one-run debut. He also had a fantastic eight-inning, one-run performance against the A’s, despite adding a loss to the resume. Most recently, he picked up his first win in a seven shutout inning performance against the Royals. His ceiling is ridiculously high.
On the other hand, he’s had some not-so-pretty starts, including a four-homer allowed outing against the Angels, which is now the most allowed among the roster. There’s just been no real consistency to his game so far this year, but the blueprint is also clearly in place for him.
David Bednar also has plenty of concerns. The reality for Renegade is that he just hasn’t been as dominant as he was last year, as his fastball velocity is down from 97.1 MPH to 95.5, and opponents are batting .306 against him. Despite all of that, he has earned six saves in seven opportunities, proving his efficiency in high-leverage situations.
Slamming the Panic Button
Before being optioned to play in Scranton, this section only needed to be two words long. Jake Bird. And if you’re Peter Griffin, maybe you could have gotten it out in one.
Camilo Doval finds himself as the most panic-worthy pitcher on this roster. You know a guy is deep in the trenches when Aaron Boone says that “he’s right there.”
To Boone’s point, Doval really does have all the right tools. His pitch selection is nasty, relying most on a 97-mph cutter that has above-average rise. His slider slows things down to 88 and drops about five inches more than average. It’s the fact, though, that Doval’s command has just been really bad.
Doval consistently gets himself into a lot of deep counts and then lets up hard hits. The opponent’s hard hit percentage is 50%, which is not good, especially for a high-leverage relief pitcher.
Devin Williams had these same exact concerns last year. Boone said, “he’s right there,” and Dev never really found his stuff. This story just looks all too familiar for the Yankees not to be in panic mode about Doval.
Doval should not be the eighth-inning guy until he figures out his command. The issue is, the Yanks don’t have many other serviceable options in that scenario.
Leave a comment