It’s about five games. These are five games in which Gerrit Cole started twice. These are five games, the last two against the Orioles, whose only reason for existence could be to increase the confidence and record of the Yankees.
But did you notice that in five games, the Yankees’ launch was brilliant?
The Yankees howlers would have a series of scores without a score of 25 innings while reading this sentence if they had a shortstop. But they have Gleyber Torres, who on the defensive leads the adults in nonchalance. He turned whatever should have been the end of the game, a routine field, into a “single” of Ryan Mountcastle. Rio Ruiz followed with a two-round shot in front of Lucas Luetge and, rather than defeating the Orioles 7-0 for a second straight game, the Yankees won 7-2.
However, even with the two gifted endowments, the Yankees’ ERA in five games is 1.76. The average beat is .190. Almost every pitcher except Domingo German performed well and on Tuesday night Cole was very good, which means better than any other starter on the planet who is not called Jacob deGrom.
“Everything worked for him,” said Kyle Higashioka.
Cole broke out 13 over seven innings, while the Yanks defeated the Orioles for the 12th time in a row in the Bronx and for the 26th time in the last 30 games overall. The right was precise and overwhelming with his fast balloon, completing in three digits. His slider was a punch knockout. And the growing confidence and use of change has provided more weapons, especially against left-wing strikers.
However, the question for the Yankees in 2021 will never be about ace. The concern was the rest of the rotation and a bullpen that started the year with Zack Britton and Justin Wilson injured. But with five games – again just five games – the staff did not allow more than three rounds in a game.
“I think we have good pitchers in the first place,” said Aaron Boone. “I felt like I was going to spring training. I felt that 13-20 competitors for the last places on a list were definitely as deep as I’ve been here since. I feel that all our boys had good and strong bows and were well built. And I feel like he’s throwing well everywhere. ”
An inspiration for the spring was Jameson Taillon, currently the only member of the Yankee team to open 26 non-playing players. That changes on Wednesday, when the 29-year-old takes the ball in a game that counts for the first time in 707 days; for the first time since Tommy John’s second surgery.
Much of this Yankees season is about what non-cole beginners can offer, especially the quartet that has struggled to launch for the past two years: Taillon, German, Corey Kluber, and finally Yankees hope, Luis Severino. Boone called it “the million-dollar question of the entire Major League Baseball this year.” Who can stay healthy and endure after a shortened or absent workload in the pandemic 2020 60-game season. For the Yanks, the mystery deepens due to the lack of rounds for two years for so many key blasphemers.
The mystery for Taillon goes a little further – is there still a substantial career for him? Once good enough to be the second pick in the 2010 draft, Taillon dreamed of racking up 100 WARS (10 players have ever done that) and winning 20 games 15 years in a row. But he was operated on by Tommy John, then testicular cancer and then needed a second Tommy John operation.
The last one came after the Pirates changed their ace after the 2018 season. This was Cole. It would be Taillon’s turn to be number 1 in 2019. But he only made seven starts. He tried to avoid the second surgery, knowing the chances of returning from a repeated procedure. He called it the “lowest point” of his career.
Which brings more resonance and meaning to what arrives on Wednesday.
“More than anything, I think this will sound unpleasant, I’m excited to be part of the Yankees and get out on the mound of Yankee Stadium and get to work,” Taillon said. “I am ready to put rehabilitation in the past. I am ready to contribute to this team and compete and take the ball every fifth day. ”
What he wants to be these days is Charlie Morton. Taillon attended spring training with Morton when they were both pirates, and Morton was still frustrated by injuries and unfulfilled talent. But for the past five years, starting with the 33-year-old season, Morton has been an elite starter, learning to better prepare his body and use his things. At 29, Taillon said, “I feel like there’s a lot in front of me.”
A hundred WARS might disappear. But Taillon will try to maintain the good vibes of the Yankees pitch and take step 1 again to prove that there is still a substantial career.