NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 13: Pitcher Sonny Gray #55 of the New York Yankees follows through on a pitch in an interleague MLB baseball game against the Washington Nationals on June 13, 2018 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. Nationals won 5-4 . (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
The Yankees are down two starters in their rotation, but their replacements have pitched well. That won’t stop Brian Cashman from adding more pitching.
Masahiro Tanaka is still on the disabled list recovering from a couple strained hamstrings suffered against the Mets. Jordan Montgomery needed Tommy John surgery, and will miss the rest of the season.
Who are their replacements? That would be Domingo German and Jonathan Loaisiga. German has pitched great so long as he has a clean first inning. Two of Loaisiga’s three starts have been fantastic as well.
So with Tanaka returning and the two young guys holding their own, what will the Yankees do at the deadline with their pitching staff?
According to Brian Cashman, the plan remains the same. So long as the price is not too high the Yankees plan to add starting pitching at the deadline. Why wouldn’t they add pitching knowing they’re going to need it if they want to get to the World Series?
Last season, the Houston Astros added Justin Verlander and he was the key to get them over the hump. The Yankees have had talks with the New York Mets about Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom. They’ve also sent scouts to check out Detroit Tigers’ ace Michael Fulmer.
The Yankees are going to add pitching one way or another, and it seems like they want to make the home run deal. Their current staff of Luis Severino, Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Domingo Herman and Sonny Gray is good, but not good enough.
It’ll be a two horse race between them and the Boston Red Sox for the division title. Neither team would like to be stuck playing a one-game playoff after winning 100 games during the regular season. We’ll see how this plays out for the Yankees in the next month.