New York Yankees: Starting rotation will be key to 2019 success
By Kyle Morello
The New York Yankees will soon be putting together their official starting rotation with the start of the season right around the corner. Will they be the reason for the Yanks success-or failures-this year?
Spring Training has just begun for the New York Yankees and the team has high expectations heading into the 2019 season.
After a year in which their offense broke the record for home runs by a team in a single season, the Yanks will be looking to continue their success at the plate this year.
They also have a ridiculous bullpen, with a 4-headed monster of the newly signed Adam Ottavino, Dellin Betances, Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman.
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With all that being said, however, the X-factor for the Yankees in 2019 will be the starting rotation. The club boasts potentially one of the best rotations in the MLB.
General Manager Brian Cashman swung a trade for one of the better starters in Baseball, James Paxton, in the offseason.
The team also brought back J.A. Happ in free agency, while CC Sabathia decided to come back for one last season before retiring.
To round out the rotation the Yankees have Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino, the latter of which was considered the ace of the staff and was an all-star in 2018.
The first takeaway from the names listed above is that the Yankees will take whatever they can get from Sabathia in his final season. If he can be affective as the number five starter on the staff, it will make a world of a difference.
The other major key here is how consistent Luis Severino can be in 2019. The first half of the season was a dominant one for Severino, as he was toward the top of the Cy Young conversation if not at the very top.
However, the second half was a completely different story. Severino struggled more often than not and was very inconsistent altogether from the beginning of July until the end of the season.
If he can avoid the ups and downs he experience in 2018 and put together a season like he did in 2017, he will be one of if not the most effective pitchers in all of Baseball.
Obviously the whole staff wants to be as dominant as possible, but that isn’t always the case in the 162 game marathon that is the MLB season.
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If the rotation can keep it together, however, the Yankees could be in line for a World Series win once October rolls around.