When the Yankees were off to their historic start last season, still drawing comparisons to the 1998 club by the time the calendar flipped to June, the machine behind their torrid stretch came from a surprising source.
No, the team wasn’t slugging its way to wins like previous installments of the Bronx Bombers, even with Aaron Judge setting himself up for home run history. It was the pitching staff leading the way, allowing the lowest run total in franchise history through the first 51 games of a season.
Gerrit Cole was his typical ace self, Luis Severino was healthy and turning the clock back to 2018, while Nestor Cortes was the surprise of the season. Even Jameson Taillon was dominating, posting a 2.30 ERA through his first 10 starts.
Now, it looks like it may take a miracle for the 2023 Yankees to come close to replicating that kind of first-half success.
Severino became the latest rotation casualty on Saturday, as Aaron Boone revealed that the oft-injured righty suffered a low grade lat strain after what had been his best spring training start this year. Now, he will likely start the season on the IL with an injury that kept him out for nearly two months last year.
Severino joins Frankie Montas and Carlos Rodon on the shelf, with Montas likely missing the entire season due to shoulder surgery, and Rodon potentially missing the first month of the season with a forearm strain.
Suddenly, what looked like one of the best rotations in baseball has become a wasteland.
Cole and Cortes remain, and while Cortes looked dominant in his last spring start, he still isn’t far removed from a hamstring injury that forced him out of the World Baseball Classic, and will be trying to replicate his 2022 All-Star season after a career-high workload, which ended with a hamstring injury in the ALCS. Cole has consistently been a horse and a staple to throw every fifth day, but behind him is nothing but question marks.
What’s worse, the Yankees offense, as currently constructed, doesn’t seem to have the firepower it did from 2018-20 to mask such a heavy pitching loss.
Aaron Judge is a superstar, but can he really be expected to single-handedly carry the team offensively like he did in the second half of last season? Can Anthony Rizzo’s back hold up? What about DJ LeMahieu’s foot? Will Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Aaron Hicks be steady presences in the outfield as two weak bats? Is Josh Donaldson’s decline going to continue in his age 37 season?
The question marks for the Yankees continue to pile up as the days until Opening Day continue to dwindle. It’s an all-too familiar refrain for the Yanks given the disastrous springs they have endured in recent years due to injuries, but after being hit especially hard this spring, fans can go ahead and let out some justified worry.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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