Day 216

Fresh Start_216: Nailing out the rotation
Watching one of the last televised Yankee Spring Training games yesterday afternoon, there was this underlining theme to the broadcast, at that was the Yankees starting rotation. The first 3 pitchers in the rotation are set being: Tanaka, Sabathia, and Pineda in that order. The reasoning for that is because Manager Joe Girardi wanted to go right/lefty/righty for the first 3 in the rotation. The other two spots are in open audition in camp with a multitude of pitchers in the running.

The front runners in camp seemed to be Bryan Mitchell, Adam Warren, Jon Niese, Luis Cessa, and Luis Severino. Cessa and Severino were in the rotation at one point in time, with Warren and Mitchell being stop starters. Niese was released earlier today, although he was brought in to try to challenge the other four for the 5th spot.

During camp, Serverino has posted these numbers: in 13.2 innings he has a 3.95 ERA, 16 strikeouts, 5 walks, with a .231 batting average against. Cessa in 9.2 innings pitched has a 6.52 ERA, 7 strike outs, 4 walks, and a .325 batting average against. Warren has a 4.80 ERA in 15 innings pitched, a .236 batting average against, 10 strikeouts, and 5 walks. Mitchell in camp has a 3.86 ERA in 18.2 innings, 19 strikeouts, 3 walks, and a .250 batting average against.

If it was up to me I would personally put Warren and Mitchell in that order to round out the Yankees rotation. Cessa is a good pitcher to have in emergency cases to be a long reliever. Severino is an interesting case. It is no secret that he struggled in 2016, but there is one silver lining. In the month of September, he had his best month of the year and it was out of the bullpen. In a total of 11 appearances out of the pen in 2016, Severino recorded a 0.39 ERA, a 3-0 record, 25 strikeouts, 10 walks, and a .105 batting average against. The jury is out for me with Luis Severino. Regardless of what Joe Girardi thinks, Severino is a bullpen pitcher that can become a valuable weapon for them in 2017.

Not to mention that Bryan Mitchell has pitched out of his mind this Spring. If there is anyone still in camp that deserves a spot on the 25-man roster it is Mitchell. Every challenge that Girardi has given Mitchell he has answered. The case for Warren is just because he has been a starter before, and he has better stats than Cessa. This rotation isn’t the best in the Majors by any means, but it can be enough to propel the Bombers into playoff contention in 2017. Opening Day is only a week away, so grab your peanuts and crackerjacks, and let’s enjoy some baseball.
Sources:(mlb.com)
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