Yankees starters cruising through the first week
If there was one facet of the Yankees that didn't seem dominant heading into the season, it was the starting rotation. The offense is expected to thrive and the bullpen is predicted to dominate (though they've faltered early), but the starting rotation could have a variety of outcomes. The outcome so far, however? Great. Really really great.
Here's a quick rundown of what the starters have done in the first six games of the season:
Team Pitching Rk Pos Name W L ERA IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP 1 SP Masahiro Tanaka 1 0 1.50 6.0 3 1 1 1 0 8 0.500 2 SP Luis Severino 2 0 1.38 13 5 2 2 0 4 14 0.380 3 SP CC Sabathia 0 0 1.80 5.0 5 2 1 0 2 4 1.400 4 SP Jordan Montgomery 0 0 1.80 5.0 2 1 1 0 4 4 1.200 5 SP Sonny Gray 0 0 2.25 4.0 7 1 1 0 3 8 2.500
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com
Starters have given up just six runs in their first 33 innings of the season, that's good for a minuscule 1.64 ERA. It doesn't matter who you're pitching against, those are impressive numbers. No starter has yet to give up more two runs in a game.
Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, and Sonny Gray have all put up great early strikeout numbers. While Gray was wild in his start, he still managed eight strikeouts and limited the Blue Jays to just one run. Tanaka allowed just three base runners in his six innings. Even CC Sabathia and Jordan Montgomery each tossed four strikeouts in five innings during their starts. Severino has looked downright dominant in his two starts. Another important stat is that just one home run has been allowed by starters so far, which is key when pitching in Yankee Stadium.
The bullpen will make sure this staff won't need to go deep into games, which should keep concerns about overworking them to a minimum. It's only a week into the season, and the Yankees haven't yet tested their pitching against any major offenses, but it's a good sign to see starters jumping out to early success.