PItching is always at a premium in October. The Yankees didn’t get enough of it from their starters to overcome the Red Sox in the ALDS.
It’s no coincidence that the Yankees got one quality start against the Red Sox and won exactly one game against their arch rivals. In each of the team’s three losses to Boston, they were let down by their starting pitcher.
It all started with J.A. Happ in Game 1. He got the Yankees pitching staff off to a horrible start when he gave up five runs in just two innings of work. Aaron Boone’s team deserves credit for clawing back to within a run by the time the game ended, but Happ’s ineptitude dug too big a hole for his team. He was arguably the team’s best pitcher down the stretch, but he didn’t give the Yankees what they needed in the season opener.
After the Yankees were able to tie the series behind Masahiro Tanaka, there was a lot of optimism about Luis Severino’s chances of pitching well in Game 3. He’d looked sharp against Oakland in the Wild Card game and his numbers against the Red Sox were pretty good on the season.
Severino pitched even worse at home than Happy did on the road. He gave up six innings in three plus innings of work. That poor performance allowed the Red Sox offense to gain a ton of confidence. By the time the game mercifully ended, Boston had lit up New York’s pitching staff for 16 runs.
Last came CC Sabathia’s morose start in Game 4. The veteran southpaw had a ton on the line. His team needed a big outing to take the ALDS back to Boston. Sabathia needed to throw the ball well to earn a new contract with the Yankees next season.
He accomplished neither goal. His start was the best of the Yankees’ three poor outings in the series, but giving up three runs in three innings wasn’t what Boone and the Yankees brain trust had in mind. Instead of using his veteran craft to gut out a solid start, he simply looked old out on the mound. The final game of this series likely represents the last time Yankee fans will cheer Sabathia as an active player on their squad. It was a sad end for a man who’s made a career out of being an absolute warhorse.
The ugly truth is that Boone’s starting rotation never game his club a chance to win this series. Other players can certainly accept some blame, but the failure to beat Boston weighs heaviest on Happ, Severino and Sabathia. Expect retooling the starting rotation to be Brian Cashman’s biggest priority this winter.