LET'S GO WITH FOUR & SEE WHAT THE SPRING BRINGS!

With the Yankees being bit by the injury bug only a few weeks before spring training, I have to wonder do the Yankees need to decide who slides into the fifth spot now? In case you are unaware, the Yankees stated late last week that their fifth starter, Frankie Montas will not be ready for the start of the 2023 season—leaving that slot wide open. I don't like the obvious choices of Clarke Schmidt and Domingo German to fill that void—sorry skipper aka Robert Casey. Not a fan of Schmidt and honestly he has been given dozens of chances last season alone and he has underperformed. And German, I have no desire to even see him in pinstripes any further. So my question is this: Can the Yankees go with four and see what the spring brings before naming their fifth starter?

Competition does a lot for a team. It brings out the best in people as they work to be their best selves. Personally, on Tuesday mornings right at sunrise, you can find me at a local track, running 200 repeats to increase my speed and endurance for an upcoming 10-miler this spring. Putting in the work, hard work, is humbling and reminds you what you are going for, what you want in your goals and aspirations. Spring Training does the same thing—giving players an opportunity to perform at their best, showing the coaches and scouts what they can do and pushing themselves to their threshold of power. All this to say, why not let the spring play out, bringing the best of today's youth to the mound, throwing for their spot in the rotation.

"Almost all of the time since the Yankees did last win the Series, they haven’t had enough pitching. They never had the starters to drag them across the finish line the way Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez did against the Phillies when the ’22 Series was two games apiece, and the way Lance McCullers Jr. and Charlie Morton did against the Yankees in that ’17 ALCS," reported Mike Lupica in his recent post on MLB.com. The Yankees have four great starters: Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Carlos Rodon and Luis Severino. When healthy, they can be lethal to the batters they face. Are they akin to the Yankee starters of 20 years ago? Andy Pettitte: 21-8, Mike Mussina: 17-8, Roger Clemens: 17-9 and David Wells: 15-7 were those starters and the answer to the question, why not?

Source: NY Post

"The best starting rotations are the ones when you have a deep talented staff, and every day, yesterday’s starter hands the ball off and the competitive spirit to his teammate and says, ‘Now top that.’ If you can get a collection of talented pitchers that have that type of capability and makeup, that’s when some magical things have a chance to happen," said Brian Cashman when he introduced the Yankees newest starter Carlos Rodon.

This brings me back to the point of competition. Healthy competition can put you and your team in the best position to reach your goals. So, let the pitchers compete for a spot. This spot could be permanent or temporary as Montas continues his rehab to full strength. We really have not seen a healthy Montas pitch and perhaps the almost 30-year-old needs to see a youngster in his slot to empower him to get better and take his spot back. The Yankees have one of the best farm systems in the majors. So, let's see them compete. And go with four and see what the spring brings.  

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof