The Yankees starting rotation is finally living up to the high expectations placed on them in Spring Training, all while ace CC Sabathia is not having his best stretch.
As a team in June, the Yankees are a Major League best 13-2. Their bullpen has been tremendous all year and continues to be a rock, even without Mariano Rivera. However, the rotation is finally matching the rest of the staff's high quality of play. In June, the starters are 11-1 with a 1.97 ERA, striking out 104 in 105.1 innings pitched, walking only 26 and opponents are hitting just .224 against them. It's no coincidence that this has all happened while the Yankees are going through their nine-game winning streak. In fact, the pitching staff as a whole has only allowed 18 earned runs for a 1.88 ERA over the nine-game stretch.
“I just think they're pitching the way they're capable and they're making pitches when they have to,” Joe Girardi said before Monday's game against the Braves. “They're locating pitches. They're mixing well and I just think they're on a roll right now. They are feeding off of each other. No one want to be outdone by the guy the night before and it's been really good.”
Great starting pitching can also mask certain weaknesses with ballclubs. The Yankees offense, while on a power surge and scoring quite a few runs over this current streak, is still having trouble with runners in scoring position. However, that is not the story anymore as the Yankees are winning, and winning convincingly. Bottom line, great pitching trumps all.
Nick Swisher news
Joe Girardi told the media on the pregame press conference that Nick Swisher would most likely be unavailable tonight. Yankees director of public relations Jason Zillo addressed the media and confirmed that he would not only be unavailable, but that he tried to take some swings and he wasn't quite there yet.
Swisher did say that he was going to try again tomorrow to get back on the field. Girardi was positive when he discussed the injury, stating that it was a lot better from the time the injury occurred to present.
