Yankees: 4 offseason decisions that show Brian Cashman knows what he’s doing

1. Trust in the Yankees starting rotation has paid off

Did anyone expect the Yankees starting pitching staff to be this good? Even Gerrit Cole, after some bumpy early starts, is now 2-0 with 3.00 ERA after five appearances. The Yankees look unstoppable. The main reason: their starting five.

Jameson Taillon and Jordan Montgomery look like they will finally live up to their high expectations. Behind an ace like Cole, they make for a deadly trio.

Luis Severino has also bounced back well and Nestor Cortes has a 1.31 ERA in his first four starts of the season. Injury concerns for several of these guys made it a somewhat questionable group of five. Those concerns may still linger but right now, it’s the top reason why the Yankees are sitting pretty atop the American League.

As an added bonus, the Yankees bullpen has been great, too. Aroldis Chapman has not allowed a single run — earned or unearned — in 9.1 innings of work. Clay Holmes and Michael King have been great, too. In fact, other than Jonathan Loaisiga, all of the main players in the bullpen have met or exceeded expectations.

Everything is going the Yankees’ way early on this season. Helped somewhat by a soft schedule, they’ve also taken down the Toronto Blue Jays twice in a row to start off May.

It’s too early to tell just how good of an offseason Cashman had. For the moment, doubtful Yankees fans can bask in the glory knowing they were wrong and feel good about it.