General Manager of the New York Yankees, Brian Cashman, has been in a pinch for years to improve the Yanks rotation and finally seems to have put together a very solid one heading into 2023. The addition of southpaw Carlos Rodon is exactly the move the Yankees needed in order to make a run at the World Series this year.

Let's take a look at the current rotation situation:

1) Gerrit Cole (RHP) {5x All Star} - 32 years old

2) Carlos Rodon (LHP) {2x All Star} - 30 years old

3) Nestor Cortes (LHP) {1x All Star} - 28 years old

4) Luis Severino (RHP) {2x All Star} - 28 years old

5) Frankie Montas (RHP) - 29 years old

6) Domingo German (RHP) - 30 years old

Health is the name of the game here as the Yankees look to head back to the playoffs and finish what they started last year by bringing home their 28th World Series Trophy. Right now I'd argue the Yankees have a top 5 rotation in all of baseball with these six arms and can possibly finish the season as the best starting staff in the major leagues.

Gerrit Cole - The crown jewel in the rotation and always a threat to win the Cy Young Award. Let me state that I am not worried about Cole having his highest ERA in 5 years last year. From the numbers you can see he was second worst in the MLB on homer runs given up with 36! I know most people will attribute this to the short porch at Yankee Stadium and I know he will continue to call this stadium home for 2023 but I believe this number will regress and the ERA will be held in check. His S09 is still 8th best all time for pitchers that are eligible standing at 10.53/S09 which is ELITE.

Carlos Rodon - The newbie to the rotation is another ACE that was brought in this year to the Bronx to make a run for the Yanks 28th World Series title. Rodon has been an All-Star the past two seasons and last year posted a 2.88 ERA with 237 K's over 178 innings of work. Very impressive for the southpaw from San Francisco. Yankees fans should be very thankful to the Giants management for letting him walk and joining forces with the Pinstripe Empire.

Nestor Cortes - Another southpaw who had his first All-Star appearance in 2022. Nestor had arguably the best 4-seam fastball in all of baseball last year and I expect him to continue dominating with this pitch due to it's deception. Moving to the number 3 in the rotation should also lift some of the pressure off his shoulders as well as give the Yanks more flexibility with matchups. Huge Nestor fan and hope to see further development with his 2nd and 3rd pitches in the arsenal.

Luis Severino - Love the talent, hate the health risk. Severino is a two time All-Star and is FINALLY healthy since achieving this All-Star status back in 2018. Reason for my optimism is simple....he is only 28 years old and came back last year to pitch in 19 games. I think most of his injury history is in fact history and will be able to move forward with his career after being injury plagued from 2019-2021. The hope is that Severino will be able to maintain a bill of health for 2023.

Frankie Montas - Can be the biggest X-factor in the rotation. No Montas is not a perennial All-Star but in 2021 finished 6th in AL Cy Young Voting. He is still only 29 years old and pitching for a much better team than Oakland. Imagine a #5 in the rotation and being a Cy Young candidate. Owns a sub 4.00 career ERA and will help the flexibility of the rotation needs a righty between Rodon and Cortes.

Domingo German - A solid 6th man to incorporate for rest days / awkward situations. German is a talented pitcher but has only broken 100 innings in a season 1 time to date. The stat that I have been paying attention to is is BB9 where he has been able to lower the amount of walks he is allowing and maintaining to keep it lower over the last three seasons he has pitched.

All in all, I think the Yankees have a SOLID if not EXCEPTIONAL rotation but they need to stay healthy in order to not have depth problems.

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Paul J. Bereswill

Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

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