New York Yankees: Joe Girardi Concerned About Starting Rotation in 2016

The New York Yankees have been rather active this offseason so far, but they still have a lot of concern about one area of their team.

Starting pitching was an issue for the Yankees last season, and so far not much has been done to improve the rotation.

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Coming into the 2015 season, the Yankees had a lot of question marks in their rotation, as Masahiro Tanaka’s elbow was a ticking time bomb, CC Sabathia couldn’t be counted on, Nathan Eovaldi was new to the team, and Michael Pineda was injury prone.

To no surprise, the Yankees’ rotation had issues in 2015, as Tanaka, Pineda, Eovaldi, and Sabathia all missed significant time with injuries. The good news for the Yankees was that Eovaldi did have a really nice stretch during the middle of the season, and is now thought of to be a staple in their rotation moving forward.

With Tanaka and Eovaldi coming off of recent surgeries, the Yankees are going to be relying heavily on the young arm of Luis Severino. In 2016, the Yankees are likely going to be very careful with their prized pitching prospect, as an innings limit for him in the regular season will certainly be talked about.

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Adam Warren was a valuable piece in the rotation and bullpen, but he was recently traded to the Chicago Cubs for the second baseman Starlin Castro to help improve the Yankees at that position.

With injuries and still lacking a fifth starter, Joe Girardi is well aware of the status of his starting rotation heading into the 2015 season and is concerned as well.

“I think there is a concern because of health,” Girardi said at a charity food drive at Yankee Stadium to Ryan Hatch of NJ.com. “When you think about [Masahiro] Tanaka, coming off an injury, you think about [Nathan] Eovaldi coming off an injury, CC [Sabathia] with a knee he’s had to deal with…Michael Pineda that was the most innings he threw after substantial periods of time. So there is some concern.”

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“You into spring training with five starters that are locked in as your 1-2-3-4-5, and you’re still going to have concerns,” Girardi said to Hatch. “You better have depth.”

If the Yankees’ rotation is healthy in 2016, they will likely have a very good season, but it is impossible to assume that with the history of the pitchers currently in the rotation. Depth is going to be key for the Yankees, as they have to hope some of the young arms that they have been grooming in the minors will be ready if called upon in 2016.

The decision for the Yankees not to sign one of the premier aces this offseason really shows that they are dedicated to getting younger and avoiding some of the big contracts that have haunted them in the past.