Imagine it’s the 1600s and you’ve gone to war. Just as you make that heroic entry you realize you left the one thing you needed the most back in your home – your strongest sword. How will that make you feel? Unless you’re Miyamoto Musashi, you’d be pretty scared. That’s exactly what the New York Yankees are going through currently. Stripped of their most powerful weapon, they now fight on with tools that may already be dulled. 

Jordan Montgomery was slowly becoming a favorite of the Yankee Nation. In him, they saw a replacement for Gerrit Cole, someone who they can trust. With his absence, the Yankees’ pitching woes are laid bare once more. Their rotation simply doesn’t pack enough punch. While there were still some hopes, Carlon Rodon’s last performance zapped them and highlighted the grave issue plaguing the entire Yankees’ lineup.

Remember the 2021 and 2022 Carlos Rodon? The All-Star who was striking out batters left and right? Ace that made the Yankees shell out $162 million for him? Ever since entering the Bronx clubhouse, that superstar has vanished. In his place, we have someone unrecognizable. There was even more evidence of it in his latest outing where according to famous journalist Max Goodman out of 36 swings the Philadelphia Phillies missed just 4 of his pitches. 

It once again became obvious that Rodon’t fastball had lost its pace. According to Pinstripes Alley’s Smith Brickner on Saturday his fastball averaged 94.1 mph, much below his 95.5 mph peak in 2022. But Rodon is just part of the issue, the trouble lies in nearly the entire Yankees’ rotation. 

Apart from Luis Gil and to a lesser extent Clarke Schmidt, nearly every one of their pitchers is seemingly past his prime. Spring Training has seen Cortes pitching at 7.71 ERA (according to Baseball-Reference). While Marcus Stroman has been good, questions are being raised over the lack of depth in the Yankees’ squad.

The New York Yankees’ struggle gets magnified due to a lack of depth

The Yankees’ lack of depth was always going to be a huge obstacle this season. The Pinstripes failed to replace half a dozen pitchers they lost in trades. The likes of Will Warren and Cody Poteet showed promise but nowhere near what Michael King did. The former Yank has transformed himself into a starter for the San Diego Padres. Then there’s Luke Weaver who has struggled with consistency since the beginning of his major league career. 

While Luis Gil’s flamethrowing ways are encouraging, he alone cannot fill the hole left behind by Gerrit Cole. But it becomes worse because not only did they miss out on replacing Cole, but the Bronx Bombers also didn’t find someone to take up the space of Wandy Peralta.

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So with opening day right around the corner, the Yankees are fighting a battle almost as uphill as the Achilles but unlike him, they haven’t been the strongest in the world for quite some time. Hopefully, Cole returns soon – the Yankees need him more than ever.

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