After a soporific split at Yankee Stadium, with each team winning in a blowout, the Subway Series didn't have its normal sizzle. It didn't crown a king of New York, nor did the day-night doubleheader have a memorable moment.
But for the Yankees, as the only club we consider a true contender, it did reveal their only real weakness.
If the playoffs began today, the Bombers would likely trot out yesterday's starting pitchers - Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton. Neither was great. Paxton got clubbed during the 10-4 loss in the nightcap, hemorrhaging eight baserunners and six earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. For June, Paxton has allowed nine earned runs in 7 1/3 innings. He has not pitched past the fifth inning since April 26, and has not pitched into the seventh inning since April 16.
The Yankees have somehow waved a wand as often as their bats, winning games with minor leaguers, spare parts and duct tape. As players sink into the IL quicksand, a new no-name seems to step-in and bash homers, make postcard plays in the field and flawlessly fit into the pinstripes as if they were pajamas.
But there's such a dearth of dominant pitching that no team can afford to lose two or three starters and expect to win a World Series. Yet they somehow lost their projected ace, Luis Severino, and replaced him with Domingo German, who was tied for tops in MLB in wins (9) when he, too, was felled by the injury bug that has chomped on the Bombers all year (German will come back, of course, but we don't know how he will respond to his time on the shelf). Indeed, the Yankees are so rotation-deprived that Chad Green has started four games this season.
Now Paxton has struggled since his stint on the IL, even with pitch counts and extreme care. CC Sabathia is closing in on 40 and has also swept through the injury turnstile. Severino should pitch sometime. But do the Yanks get the young ace who steamrolled the sport the first half of 2018? Or do they get the timid, second--half pitcher who bombed in the playoffs? Rotator cuffs are a curious thing for flamethrowers like Severino, making him the biggest variable in the rotation - whenever he pitches.
They can't rely on J.A. Happ - the only other pitcher to start at least ten games - to own the mound in October. Happ has been serviceable but has a 4.48 ERA, and few trust him in big spots. And don't look now, but the Yankees (41-25) have lost their lead in the AL East, and are now tied with Tampa Bay for first place.
Brian Cashman was once seen as a Steinbrenner lackey who merely doubled as the team's billfold, making it rain on the latest crop of free agents. Now he's seen as some kind of wizard with a jeweler's eye for young, gifted players and an unmatched instinct for where and when to play them. But Cashman is also the GM who brought Sonny Gray, J.A. Happ and Paxton to the pinstripes. Right now the optics around the rotation are shaky. So it's up to Cashman to find pitching with the same aplomb he found all those young, hungry bats.
This highlights the failed bidding war for Dallas Keuchel, who signed with the Atlanta Braves. If Paxton doesn't pan out, then Keuchel, with all kinds of playoff pedigree, could have stepped in. So it's essential for the Yankees to stretch out their pinstriped arms and find at least one more starting pitcher.
Madison Bumgarner would be lovely. Perhaps he's on the wrong side of his prime, but he's still darn good. When Justin Verlander was dealt to the Astros, he was 34 and considered a spent pitcher who left his best pitches in Detroit, and would just smile his way into retirement with Kate Upton on his arm. Then he went 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA for Houston in 2017, and fueled the rotation all the way to the World Series title. Verlander has gone 30-11 for the Astros, and still looks like an ace at age 36.
Bumgarner is only 29, has made 14 starts this season, and has a respectable 3.83 ERA, despite his 3-6 record. He had a 4.70 ERA in April, a 3.72 ERA in May, and a 2.77 ERA in June. A three-time World Series champion, Bumgarner is easily one of the greatest postseason pitchers in MLB history. And if you just saw him bark at Max Muncy for admiring his solo homer - the only run Bumgarner allowed in 7 IP - then you know the fire still burns in his vocational belly.
Maybe the Yanks whiff on Bumgarner the way they whiffed on Keuchel. But they had better get someone by the end of July, or they may not play deep into October.
Twitter: @JasonKeidel
