Yankees starting rotation sets new MLB record for reliability

On paper, the New York Yankees had one of the best starting rotations in the majors, but that was with Gerrit Cole, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, leading the way. Unfortunately, Cole suffered an injury in Spring Training that was expected to cost him the first couple of months of the season at the very least.

Without Cole, this Yankees rotation looked highly suspect. Sure, they had pitchers who have had successful seasons in the past, but could they trust guys like Marcus Stroman, Carlos Rodon, and Nestor Cortes Jr. to stay healthy? Could they trust Clarke Schmidt to be a reliable back-end guy? What would they get from Luis Gil who threw just four minor league innings in 2023?

It turns out, that even without Cole, this Yankees rotation has been unbelievable. It's the main reason why even after a disappointing loss in Anaheim they lead the AL East with a 37-19 record and have one of the three best records in the majors. This stat shows just how reliable that rotation is.

Yankees rotation sets MLB record without their best pitcher

Cortes got the ball for Tuesday's series opener against the Angels and pitched well, allowing two runs in 5.1 innings of work. He didn't walk a batter and struck out five. He departed with the Yankees ahead 3-2. Unfortunately the bullpen blew it later, but that's obviously not Cortes' fault.

With that start from the Yankees' southpaw, New York's starters have now gone 15 straight games of completing five innings and allowing two runs or fewer which set a new MLB record. They were previously tied with three other teams before breaking the record which had been held since the 1907 Pirates.

The Yankees have won 11 of those last 15 games to add onto an already good start.

The Yankees are leading the majors with a 2.83 staff ERA and are second in the majors with a 2.73 rotation ERA without Gerrit Cole. Their starters are fourth in the majors in innings pitched without Gerrit Cole. If they can stay healthy, this rotation could easily be the best in the majors once Cole comes back from his injury.

This kind of starting pitching combined with the dominance Clay Holmes has displayed late in games and the star-studded duo of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto leading the way offensively gives the Yankees a formula to not only thrive in the regular season, but to potentially make a deep run in October.