Marcus Stroman recently began his AA assignment in Somerset. This, for many Yankee fans, has been a long-awaited moment. The Yankees acquired Stroman last year for $37 million over two years. At the time, this seemed like a massive addition for the Yankees as they were building toward a title run. Up until that point, Stroman had not had an ERA above 4 since his 2016 season in Toronto. It seemed as though he was going to play a major role in the Yankees’ regular season and postseason success.
The excitement around Stroman faded as his ERA reached 4.31 over his 29 starts last season. He also struggled to pitch deep into games, averaging only about five innings worked per appearance. This quickly raised concerns among Yankee fans, but some blame was placed on manager Aaron Boone for pulling Stroman before he should have. Whatever the case, these factors led to Stroman not pitching in the playoffs at all last season.
Stroman began this season poorly, giving up seven runs in his first two starts and not reaching the sixth inning in either game. In his third start, he didn’t even make it through the first inning, allowing five runs due to a combination of walks and a home run. Given this performance, it’s hard to argue that he was worth the $37 million investment.
With his return now closer than ever, the Yankees will have a lot of different pieces to move around, and there will be many different routes for the team to take. Ultimately, these decisions could either keep the Yankees in contention or spell a quick playoff exit.
The Yankees’ current rotation has been up and down, but they have looked sharp for much of the season. On other nights, however, it seems like getting through an inning without runners in scoring position is impossible. Many of these issues come from the gross number of walks, which the Yankees lead the league in, and hit batters.
The best piece in the bullpen, to this point, has undoubtedly been the new Yankee, Max Fried. He has posted an ERA under 2.00, and the current Yankee ace has a record of 9-1. His one loss came to the Dodgers in game one of that three-game series, which rounded out the Yankees’ late-May road trip. He has proved to be the key to this Yankee pitching attack in the absence of ace, Garrett Cole.
Carlos Rodón has also been good this season, posting an under-3.00 ERA. The other proven pitcher in the rotation, Clark Schmidt, has had varying success throughout the season. It will be interesting to track their play as things heat up in the coming months.
Someone who has stood out for the Yankees since the rotation has been beaten up is Ryan Yarbrough. The long reliever-turned-starter has had ups and downs, but his dedication to his new role has been impressive. Yarbrough has an ERA just over 4.00, having started six games and relieved eight others.
Will Warren has established himself as an important piece for the Yankees now and in the future. Although his ERA is close to 5.00, he has only given up a combined six earned runs on 14 hits in four of his last five starts. The only outlier was his start in Los Angeles, where he allowed seven earned runs on six hits. The most impressive thing about Warren is his sweeper which generates close to 20 inches in a horizontal break, but the liveliness of his arm is shown on almost every pitch that he throws.
Upon Stroman’s return, Yarbrough will likely return to his role in long relief. This would further result in Yerry De Los Santos being sent down to the AAA level. This would immediately solve inconsistencies that have been seen in the Yankees’ bullpen. This would also allow the Yankees to use Yarbrough to help ease Stroman back into MLB shape, and he will be available if the Yankees feel as though they need to use a six-man rotation as the summer warms up.
While this will be beneficial for a while, last year’s American League Rookie of the Year, Luis Gil, is expected to be back shortly. Gil had a 15-7 record last season and an ERA of 3.50. Although he struggled with walking batters, walking 77 in total, he was able to strike out 171. Without a doubt, Gil will be in the starting rotation upon his return. Even if he does not come back as good as he was last season, it is safe to say that he will still have better output than Stroman.
When this happens, an issue will arise. The Yankees will be forced to choose between keeping Warren or Stroman in the rotation. This will undoubtedly be a difficult choice. The organization would be paying Stroman a lot of money to sit on the bench if they chose not to stay with Warren. This would likely be the outcome of staying with Warren, because it is unlikely that a team would be willing to trade for Stroman, given his contract size.
In the case of staying with Stroman, Warren would likely be assigned to AAA. This would allow him to continue to face quality batters and improve his pitching. The issue with this is that a real argument is that, at this point in Stroman’s career, Warren might be a better pitcher. This argument can be made through Stroman’s aforementioned struggles in the last couple of years, coupled with Warren’s continued growth and signs of great ability.
Stroman’s return will undoubtedly help the Yankees immediately, but with Gil’s return, there will be tough decisions to make. It will be hard to dismiss Warren’s rising successes, but it might be even more difficult to dismiss the $18.5 million that Stroman would be getting paid not to throw.
This will determine whether the front office of the Yankees and Aaron Boone prioritizes the team’s success or the validation of their spending. The decision between sticking with Warren or Stroman once Luis Gil returns, but for now, Yankees fans should enjoy their coming improvements.
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