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New York Yankees: Brian McCann believes in starting pitching

By Nick Ziegler

Sep 26, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees catcher Brian McCann (34) and relief pitcher Andrew Miller (48) celebrate after defeating the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees defeated the White Sox 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 26, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees catcher Brian McCann (34) and relief pitcher Andrew Miller (48) celebrate after defeating the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees defeated the White Sox 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New York Yankees don’t have a whole lot of expectations coming into the 2016 season, as another trip to the playoffs would be considered a success for the aging Yankees.

The main concern with the Yankees this upcoming season is the starting rotation. There are a lot of big names, and players that have had great seasons, but there are plenty of injury concerns. The man who is in charge of calling the game for the pitchers, Brian McCann, doesn’t seem to be worried at all about the rotation in 2016.

“I love our staff; I feel like a lot of people are sleeping on it,” McCann said to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. “If you look at it, every night we’re running out a good arm. We’ve got some guys like Bryan Mitchell who hopefully takes that next step. I like where we’re at.”

Injuries are certainly part of the game in a long 162-game season, but the fact that the Yankees have had four of their five starters on the DL last season for an extended period of time in 2015 is concerning this season.

“I think every team can say that,” McCann said Feinsand. “You never know when an injury is going to occur; for me, I don’t even look at it that way. CC’s got the knee brace, but there’s no one that works harder and has that mindset that he has. He’s got the mindset of a No. 1, of what he’s done his whole career. Then we hand the ball off to Tanaka; he had the bone chips taken out and we’ll see how he responds. Eovaldi took huge steps last year and reports are he’s throwing the ball real good. We’ve got arms.”

The Yankees are putting a lot of faith in Luis Severino, who was very impressive during his short stint in the majors last season. In 2015, Severino totaled 5-3 record and a 2.89 ERA.

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“He learned a lot last year, what it takes to succeed at this level,” McCann said to Feinsand. “He’s going to go into this offseason and learn, even more, go into the season and get better and better.”

While the Yankees may have some question marks in their starting rotation, they certainly do not have many in their bullpen. The Yankees will be using a combination of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and Aroldis Chapman in the final three innings of many games this season.

“That’s kind of where the game is going,” McCann said to Feinsand. “You’re playing a lot of close games, a lot of one-run games where one pitch can cost you the game more so now than six, seven or eight years ago.

“The games are all close nowadays, so that’s where teams are going; they realize that back ends of bullpens win championships. Your starter can go out and give you 100 pitches in five innings and hand the ball over. You’re seeing a lot of teams have success that way.”

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The Yankees will be one of those teams trying to have success with an elite bullpen, but if the starting rotation can stay healthy, the whole pitching unit can be a dangerous one for the Yankees.

McCann will be looking to build upon his great offensive season in 2015, as he will be a key component for the Yankees both offensively and defensively.

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