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How good is the Yankees pitching rotation, and can it be better?

By Rucker Haringey

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 10: Luis Severino #40 of the New York Yankees in action during a game against the New York Mets at Citi Field on June 10, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 10: Luis Severino #40 of the New York Yankees in action during a game against the New York Mets at Citi Field on June 10, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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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)
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) /

4. Sonny Gray

If you relied on Yankees fans on social media to provide Gray his marks, he’d probably receive an F-. He certainly hasn’t been very good, but the criticism he receives from the fans is at least slightly overblown.

Gray’s ERA of 4.98 is a pretty fair reflection of the way he’s thrown the ball. In his worst starts, he’s really struggled to throw the ball over the plate. That may be due to a lack of confidence in his stuff. Gray has a nasty habit of nibbling too much with his fastball.

His propensity to walk hitters wouldn’t be as big of an issue if he was missing a lot of bats. The fact that Gray has only struck out 59 hitters in 68.2 innings pitched shows he just isn’t putting batters away. Right now Gray needs to pitch to contact to get hitters out. You simply can’t issue free passes if you need the ball in play to get guys out.

Add all of this up and it’s clear to see Gray isn’t enjoying a good season. He’s not hopeless, but this piece isn’t about how he might pitch for the rest of the year. Instead, it’s about how he’s thrown the ball to date. Gray simply hasn’t been good enough. He will need to pitch much better the rest of the way if he wants the team to count on him moving forward.

Grade: D

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