Yankees’ rotation is showing cracks, but options to improve are limited

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Going into spring training, Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone had what could be considered a good problem. Given the depth of the Yankees’ rotation, the challenge of veteran Marcus Stroman entering camp as the club’s No. 6 starter was something the GM and manager would have to figure out at a later date. Two weeks into the regular season, it’s clear that the Yankees’ starting pitching depth is now just a problem.

The Yankees lost their ace, Gerrit Cole, for the season after Tommy John surgery. Reigning American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil is out for at least three months due to a high-grade lat strain. Clarke Schmidt was one of the AL’s best starters last season before a lat strain sidelined him for three months. His season has been delayed due to minor back and shoulder issues. Schmidt is expected to return to the Yankees’ rotation next week after pitching in one more minor league rehab assignment on Thursday, which should integrate him back with the big-league club on April 15.

But the lack of quality starting pitching depth through 11 games is glaring for the Yankees. They’re dead last in MLB with zero quality starts; 26th with a 5.40 ERA; 23rd in HR/9; and 20th in slugging percentage. The problem is there’s not likely much the Yankees can do to fix the starting pitching problem in the interim other than get Schmidt back and hope he returns to last year’s form.

The Yankees currently have two of the five worst starters in the sport (Stroman and Carlos Carrasco) in terms of Stuff+ in their rotation. Stuff+ is important because it measures the physical characteristics of a pitch including release point, velocity, movement and spin rate. The higher a Stuff+ score is, the more leeway a pitcher can generally have with their location.

Because Stroman’s and Carrasco’s stuff is poor, they have to be precise with their command. That’s what happened in Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers. Carrasco’s precision was off. The Tigers hit three home runs off of the veteran and chased him after 4 1/3 innings.

“It’s imperative that he commands all of it,” Boone told reporters in Detroit about Carrasco’s repertoire. “He’s got to have that elite command. He doesn’t have a lot of margin. That’s what he’s done a good job of, and I felt like even at times (Tuesday), he did a nice job with that, but he’s got to be near the edges with that.”

Entering spring training, Carrasco was a longshot to make the Yankees’ roster. At 38, he was the oldest player in camp, coming off of back-to-back tough seasons with the Cleveland Guardians and New York Mets. Carrasco made the team out of necessity, as the Yankees could not afford to lose any more pitching depth, and he had an opt-out clause in his contract. It’s possible that when Schmidt returns from the injured list, the Yankees could designate Carrasco for assignment, but the club might see having the veteran on the roster as beneficial due to the shortage of starters available to them. That would possibly mean optioning Will Warren to Triple A.

If the Yankees decided to part ways with Carrasco, one outside the box depth idea the club could consider is stretching out reliever Brent Headrick. Headrick was a starter as recently as 2023 with the Minnesota Twins organization, and he’s shown signs of being an improved pitcher this year with a new splitter and a better fastball. Before he was optioned back to Triple A, Headrick struck out nine batters across 5 1/3 innings pitched.

In the meantime, the Yankees need better results from Warren and Carlos Rodón, as both have higher ceilings than Stroman and Carrasco. Both Warren and Rodón have struggled with their command to begin the season. Warren ranks in the bottom 20 among all starters in Location+, while Rodón ranks 92nd out of 148 starters in the metric, which measures a pitcher’s ability to put pitches in the right place. Both starters have also struggled with their fastball velocity so far and could see better results with warmer weather. Warren, specifically, has struggled maintaining his stuff throughout both of his outings.

By combining two pitchers with some of the worst stuff in baseball, two others struggling with command, and Max Fried, who hasn’t been sharp in his first two outings, you get a rotation that ranks among the bottom five in swinging strike percentage and dead last in fewest pitches thrown inside the strike zone through 11 games.

The timing of Cole’s and Gil’s injuries did not allow Cashman to look externally for starting pitching options before the start of the season. They also spent the offseason trying to offload Stroman’s contract, but were unsuccessful in doing so.

At this point, the Yankees need Schmidt to come back and stabilize the rotation, hope Gil doesn’t have a setback in his rehab (he’s expected to begin his throwing program next week), get better results out of Warren and Rodón as the weather improves, and reassess closer to the trade deadline. The Yankees rotation just needs to survive until then, but will they?

(Top photo of Carlos Carrasco: AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

This news was originally published on this post .

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