If the Yankees are to make up ground in the AL East, two of their most important pitchers will have to break out of their current slumps.
Gerrit Cole and Aroldis Chapman were dominant through the first two months of the season, but once the slumping offense finally started to show some signs of life, Cole and Chapman began to falter, and the Yankees continued to struggle to go on a run.
But FOX MLB analyst and Hall of Famer John Smoltz doesn’t see those problems and long-term concerns, and expects both to return to their dominant form this season.
When it comes to Chapman, Smoltz thinks the issue is a simple one to diagnose: the lefty flamethrower’s problems began as soon as he was seen dealing with a broken fingernail on his pitching hand, something Smoltz believes is still causing problems on the mound.
“I think he’s got something wrong with his finger,” Smoltz told Moose and Kim Jones. “It’s significantly hampered his control of his fastball...when you see Chapman throwing 3-2 breaking balls and 3-2 splits, for me, I think ‘OK, he’s got a little bit of an issue he’s trying to pitch through.’”
Chapman has clearly lost confidence in his fastball, throwing it a career-low 57.4 percent of the time this season, and his control has vanished. In his last 6.2 innings of work, a 10-game span dating back to June 10, Chapman has walked 11 batters, and four of his last five outings have had multiple free passes, something Smoltz believes doesn’t appear out of nowhere without something physically affecting Chapman’s ability.
“You’re not gonna just lose your command all of a sudden,” Smoltz said. “That’s how I look at it. Without knowing anything first hand, I feel like he’s got something, a nail issue on his finger, that’s affecting his fastball and affecting his command, when that gets back comfortable, I think you’ll see the dominant version of him in the first month of the season.”
For Cole, the catalyst behind his recent struggles might be more clear. News first broke on June 3 after an MLB owners meeting that a crackdown would begin on the use of sticky substances, and since then, Cole has a 5.24 ERA in six starts, with a dramatically decreased spin rate. But Cole has also mixed in some strong starts in that span, including eight innings of two-run ball against a loaded Blue Jays lineup last month, leading Smoltz to assume that Cole will make the necessary adjustments and get back to he was through his first 11 starts of the season.
“Pitchers are gonna go through lulls,” Smoltz said. “Is the timing great right now? No, because of the narrative. That’s just what it is. You’re not gonna forget how to pitch and be dominant with your pitch selection and location. I haven’t seen every pitch Gerrit Cole has thrown, but he’s not getting away with location misses, and that’s confidence in the hitters having the feel like pitchers are gonna be less perfect and less efficient with their command and spin rate.”
Cole’s last two starts have been dreadful, but Smoltz isn’t worried, and doesn’t believe the Yankees should be either. The team might have dug itself too deep a hole to get back into AL East contention, but the former ace believes the Yankee ace will get back to his usual ways by the time the season ends.
“In the middle of summer, and the timing this is all taking place, they’re gonna be fine,” Smoltz said. “They’re gonna learn how to deal with whatever the difference is. I don’t know what this stuff is, I’ve never seen it, but I can tell you that some of the elite pitchers will still be the elite pitchers when the year is over.”
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