TURNING THE TABLES
Rotation can’t take any more absences
THIS was another game when attention focused on the Yankees’ offense and bullpen, though not for what had become familiar positive reasons.
In 11 innings Saturday, the Yankees could muster just one run, and that came on a wild pitch. The lack of an extra-base hit was a reminder, despite all the good team results, that Didi Gregorius, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are absent and missed.
The bullpen, which has mostly been an iron curtain for the last month, was dented by solo homers from Brandon Lowe off Tommy Kahnle to tie the score in the seventh and Austin Meadows off Luis Cessa in the 11th. Those homers represented the only times that Rays reached third base. It was enough in a 2-1 victory.
If you thought much about Yankees starting pitching, it was out of concern. The hardest hit ball of this game was a 111.3 mph tracer by Yandy Diaz off of the right shin area of Masahiro Tanaka. The good news: The ball caromed directly to Luke Voit, who stepped on first, and since there was a runner on second, it ended the sixth inning and preserved a shutout. The bad news was it left a bruise that puts Tanaka’s next start in some peril.
What was easy to miss or dismiss in this Yankees loss was that for the second straight weekend,, Tanaka out-pitched Cy Young winner Blake Snell. Which fits into a larger context of Yankees starting pitching flying under the
radar. The de-fluker-ization of Voit and the emergence of Gio Urshela and the rebound of Kahnle and the return of Zack Britton’s vicious sinker have dominated the feel-good perseverance story that is the 2019 Yankees.
But the backbone of this team has been a starting rotation that has not received an inning yet from ace Luis Severino or Jordan Montgomery, recently lost fill-in ace James Paxton, and now will be without depth piece Jonathan Loaisiga for months.
“Really good, not talked about enough,” manager Aaron Boone said of his rotation. “Because even when they have had shorter outings for the most part, we have been in the games night in and night out, and it is because of our starting pitching. A lot of people, rightfully so, talk about our pen and all the young guys that have come up. But what has allowed us to consistently win ball games for the most part is we’ve gotten good starting pitching.”
The Yankees’ rotation has a 3.37 ERA. Only the Rays at 2.42 is better among AL teams. But because of a reliance on openers, Tampa Bay starters have thrown 46 2/3 fewer innings than those of the Yankees.
But it is the Yankees who will need an opener Sunday against one of the Rays’ strong starters, Charlie Morton. That was why there was such a priority in following Friday’s walk-off victory with another win Saturday. Because with Cessa used, the Yanks will go with Chad Green to open the series finale in Paxton’s spot.
That accentuates that though the rotation has been an asset, holding opponents to just a .226 batting average, the ranks are thin. Severino is not due back until July, Montgomery till August and who knows on the oft-injured Loaisiga.
Paxton will throw a bullpen session Sunday to see how his left knee responds, with the possibility he could be slotted into the rotation soon if all is well. But injury finds Paxton. And the Yanks will have to see about Tanaka’s shin. And CC Sabathia’s knees are a consistent worry. And Domingo German has been brilliant, but he will have an innings cap having never come anywhere near a full major league season on his arm.
Strength can become something far less than that very quickly for the Yankees, whose stay atop the AL East did not even last 24 hours.
That was not Tanaka’s fault. He remains in search of his best splitter, but for the second straight start it was improved, while his fastball was precise and his slider wipe out. Tanaka struck out the side in the first, but then only recorded one whiff over the next four innings. However, he also needed just one outfield out as he induced Rays hitters to drive sliders and splitters into the ground.
Tanaka struck out Meadows and Tommy Pham to begin the sixth, yielded a Ji-Man Choi double, then had Diaz smash the ball off his shin. The out meant a sixth start this season in which the righty had allowed one or no runs. Only Houston’s Justin Verlander (7) has more.
But it also brought a yelp of pain from Tanaka and concern about his health. An X-ray was negative. Still, Sunday the Yankees will be edgy about the condition of the legs of Tanaka and Paxton because they are becoming so thin in starting arms.
The Yankees’ rotation has floated successfully beneath the radar. But strength can become weakness quickly if the rotation depletes any further.