MLB News and Rumors: New York Yankees Pitching Better than Expected
March 10, 2011 · Chris Leyden · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
A lot of questions surrounding the New York Yankees pitching rotation entering spring training are being answered halfway in.
The biggest question mark had to do with starting pitching.
Many experts felt as though after CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett, the Yankees really had no one on their roster to fill the final two spots of the rotation.
The Yankees went out and signed a few players who may be past their prime, but were great pitchers in MLB at one point or another. This list included Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Mark Prior.
Garcia and Colon have both impressed as potential starters, and Prior has looked solid coming out of the bullpen.
Garcia is still yet to give up a run in five innings, while Colon has allowed three runs in nine innings. Obviously, spring training stats do not always translate to the regular season, but both of these are promising signs.
Prior has pitched a single scoreless inning so far, but may find himself in Triple-A to start the season until he builds up his arm strength.
A lot of baseball enthusiasts thought pitching would be the weakness of the Yankees, and it is still obviously not their strength. With that in mind, the Yankees may have found some veteran pitchers who want to revive their careers and pitch for a World Series ring.
Another possibility for the Yankees is to start off the season with a four-man rotation and either give the fourth spot to Colon or Garcia or have them split starts.
This is an interesting suggestion because obviously the Yankees rotation is very top heavy, and the more starts for Sabathia and Hughes, the better. If Sabathia and Hughes can stay healthy and don’t wear their arms out, I think it would be smart for the Yankees to limit the starts of the back of the rotation.
With Opening Day only about 20 days away, the Yankees have some time to figure out their rotation, but not a lot. Fortunately for them, their offseason signings have looked smart so far and they could potentially have three pitchers reviving their careers this season.
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