Fansided

Projecting the Yankees’ 2020 rotation led by new ace Gerrit Cole

By Rucker Haringey

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 15: Gerrit Cole #45 of the Houston Astros celebrates retiring the side during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees in game three of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 15, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 15: Gerrit Cole #45 of the Houston Astros celebrates retiring the side during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees in game three of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 15, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 15: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Luis Severino #40 of the New York Yankees in action against the Houston Astros in game three of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 15, 2019 in New York City. The Astros defeated the Yankees 4-1. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 15: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Luis Severino #40 of the New York Yankees in action against the Houston Astros in game three of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 15, 2019 in New York City. The Astros defeated the Yankees 4-1. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

2. Luis Severino

Yankees fans shouldn’t discount the possibility that Severino could be just as good as Cole is next season. He certainly has injury issues to overcome, but he flashed high-quality stuff down the stretch last season. If Severino stays healthy, he could easily become the team’s “co-ace” alongside Cole.

Health is the biggest issue for Severino by a wide margin. Yes, there are concerns about his propensity to tip pitches, but that issue should be fixable by the team’s new pitching coach, Matt Blake. Expect the organization to treat Severino with a lot of caution this Spring. They’ll want him to get some work in, but the only priority should be making sure he’s ready to pitch when the regular season begins.

It’s unlikely Severino will start the season as the team’s No. 2 starter, but the best case scenario for the Yankees is that he takes the ball in Game 2 of any playoff series. With all due respect to both James Paxton and Masahiro Tanaka, Severino has the highest ceiling of the trio by a pretty fair margin.

The only knock against Severino this season is that the Yankees will likely keep him on a pretty strict innings limit. Getting him to 150 innings is a reasonable idea, but anything north of that is too big of a risk for the organization. Despite those issues, he profiles as the team’s No. 2 starter when all is said and done.

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