Until a few weeks ago, the Yankees seemed to have a very strong group of five starting pitchers.When Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Luis Severino, Nestor Cortes When Frankie Montas As we penciled in, the club arguably had the best rotation in the entire league. They still have a good front 4, but need to rely on that depth to start this season. Even if Montas manages to regain his health and return to his former form by May, one of the remaining four could need a breather, leaving other pitchers a chance. will continue. It’s unlikely a team will make it through an entire season with just his 5-6 starters. So depth is always important.
Who’s on hand with a club that can step up to cover Montas and other injuries? Let’s see the options.
Domingo German
German, 30, is perhaps the most obvious and direct solution. He seems to have established himself as part of the club’s future rotation in his 2019, with a 4.03 ERA, a 27.2% strikeout percentage, an 8.8% walk rate, and a 38.1% ground ball percentage, which saw him pitch 143 his innings. I threw However, in September of that year, he took a leave of absence while the league investigated him for domestic violence. He appealed for retirement, but eventually returned.
In 2021, he was able to pitch 98 1/3 innings in 18 starts and 4 relief appearances. Last year, a shoulder problem sent him to his 60-day injured list in March and he was unable to return until July. He ended up with 14 starts and 1 relief appearance, posting a 3.61 ERA in 72 1/3 innings. His strikeout rate dropped slightly to 19.5%, and opponents hit just .262 with his balls in play. The latter number is well below the league average, but not far from his career mark of .272. He may have a knack for limiting damage, but the statcast data doesn’t support it.He’s hit hard last year in the 26th percentile in hit rate, average exits in the velocity he’s in the 25th It was the percentile, but it was the 57th percentile for barrel rate. He can struggle to maintain his sub-4.00 ERA, but he avoids base balls and is much better than most teams’ fifth or sixth starters. .
Clark Schmidt
Schmidt, 27, the following month, was drafted in the first round by the Yanks in 2017. He showed good pitching as he moved up the minor league ladder and in 2020 he was considered one of the league’s top 100 prospects in baseball in 2021. . Despite his short stint in the Majors, his overall workload hasn’t been that great over the past few years.With the Minors canceled due to the pandemic in 2020, he has just 6 1/2 of his official Majors action. In 2021, an elbow strain kept him out of action for some time, recording another 6 1/3 for Biggs and only allowing him to record 38 innings in the minor leagues. Last year he was frequently recalled as an option, with him throwing 57 2/3 frames in the majors and 33 frames in Triple-A for a total of 90 2/3 on the season.
When he’s healthy enough to go on the mound, he’s producing pretty solid results. The result was a ground ball rate of 44.6%. His minor league work has been even better, with him posting a 2.71 ERA in 71 innings over the past two years. He struck out his 31% of the hitters he faced, walked his 7.1% of them, and scored a ground ball in about half of his balls in play. There are some things I like here, but he still has options, which German doesn’t have. Given that fact and his workload concerns, he may be pushed to triple-A until the need arises.
Davey Garcia
Garcia, who was 24 years old in May, has started six games in 2020 and indicated he could have a 4.98 ERA. That number may not pop, but he was just 21 at the time, and likely showed a tantalizing future with continued development. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened. In his next two years, he made only a few major league starts while recording a 6.87 ERA in his 2/3 minor league innings. He’s young, but now he’s out of options. Given his poor performance in recent years, he could be given or otherwise appointed to a long-term relief role in the bullpen.
Lewis Gill
Gill, who turned 25 in June, has a 3.78 ERA in his first seven starts in MLB, but won’t be out for a while. He had Tommy John surgery last May and won’t be a realistic contender until the middle of the season at the earliest. Once he is healthy, he can pitch to minors as part of his rehabilitation duties, but once the 30-day rehabilitation period is over, it will be decision time.
Randy Vasquez
The 24-year-old Vazquez signed with the Yanks as an international free agent in 2018 and has spent his entire career with the Yanks. He made 25 starts at that level and pitched 115 his 1/3 innings with a 3.90 ERA. He took his 24.2% of the hitters he faced, walked 8.3% and scored a ground ball in 48.3% of the clip. He was added to the club’s roster in November to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft. He is currently considered the club’s ninth prospect in baseball, although he has yet to pitch at Triple-A level.
Matt Crook
Crook, 28, is left-handed and was drafted by the Giants before being transferred to the Rays. Evan Longoria handle. The Yankees acquired him in the minor league portion of the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. Control isn’t exact, but he’s had some solid results in the upper minors since then. Recorded a 4.09 ERA in 2/3 innings. He walked 12.1% of his batters faced, but struck out 25.7% and got a ground ball in 55.7% of the clips. That was enough for the Yanks to add him to their roster at the end of the season to keep him from reaching minor league free agency.
Johnny Burrito
Brito, who turns 25 next month, signed with the Yankees as an international amateur from the Dominican Republic and has spent his entire career with the Yankees. He split between Double-A and Triple-A last year, with 23 starts and three relief appearances in which he pitched 112 2/3 innings. Although he took only 20% of the hitters he faced, he held bases to a level of 7.7% and scored ground balls in about half of the balls thrown in. Like Crook, he was added to the club’s 40 at the end of the season, preventing him from reaching minor league free agency.
Yoendris Gomez
Gomez, 23, signed with the Yankees in 2016 and was an international signatory from Venezuela. He’s been on the prospect list for years to come, and in November 2020 he earned a spot among the 40 to keep him out of Rule 5. Selection. Unfortunately, injuries have limited his abilities in recent seasons. In 2021, he dealt with shoulder problems, contracted COVID-19, and ended up making nine starts a year in Class A. He finished the year with only 47 innings. It will be difficult.
clayton beater/Sean Boyle/Mitch Spence/Tanner Tully
None of this group is currently on a 40-man roster, so they could be more likely to contribute this year, but it’s always possible to force the club to make room. Beeter is arguably the most exciting product. Selected his 66th overall by the Dodgers in 2020, he was ranked that club’s 12th-best prospect heading into 2022 by Baseball His America. That’s after his 2021 season, posting a 3.44 ERA between High-A and Double-A, hitting 36.6%. Number of hitters faced. In 2022, he walked 14.3 percent of his hitters, jumping his ERA to 5.75, but then turned to the Yankees. Joey Gallo trade. After the trade, his walks dropped to his 10.6% and his ERA to his 2.13. He pitched only 77 innings between his two teams, though he hit an incredible 37.1% of the hitters he faced in a year.
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If the Yankees feel these depth options aren’t enough, they can always seek help outside the organization. Michael Wacha, Dylan Bundy When Zach GreinkeAs far as trades go, the Mariners could be happy to move Marco Gonzales Also Chris FlexenThe Brewers are suddenly loaded into rotation options and could theoretically get away with it. Adrian HauserBut all these avenues come with complications for the Yankees. The Yankees are reportedly wary of going beyond the final tier of the competitive balance tax, with Roster Resource now pegging the CBT figure at $292.3 million. It’s difficult to add externally without compensating for that difference.trade contracts for people like Josh Donaldson Also Aaron Hicks It would give them a little more breathing room, but the Yanks have so far been unable to find a deal.
