At 39-15, the New York Yankees have the best record in Major League Baseball.
They have been flat-out dominant in all aspects of the game, but their starting rotation has been something to behold.
Five starting pitchers are the main drives of the early success: Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes Jr., Jameson Taillon, Jordan Montgomery, and Luis Severino.
As MLB’s official Twitter account says, “the Yankees rotation is on another level right now.”
The @Yankees rotation is on another level right now. pic.twitter.com/sEnGkw7g04
— MLB (@MLB) June 5, 2022
In the last five games, Yanks’ starters have allowed just two runs in 36 innings pitched, with an insane 4/35 BB/K ratio.
Those are some incredible numbers.
Over the weekend, Cole and Taillon became the first two pitchers to throw six perfect innings in consecutive games in the expansion era (since 1961).
The Yankees Rotation In Numbers
Yankees’ starters lead MLB in Wins Above Replacement, or WAR, by a comfortable margin: they have 7.7, and the closest competitor, the Philadelphia Phillies, has 6.1.
The Yanks’ rotation currently has the lowest combined ERA in baseball at 2.55, barely edging the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2.61.
Those are the two best teams in baseball, so if you hadn’t heard, great teams have excellent rotations.
Part of the Yankees’ success can be attributed to control and command.
The Yankees are the only team in the league handing out fewer than two walks per nine innings, at 1.82.
The next-best squad, the Toronto Blue Jays, have a 2.03 mark.
To sum up, the Yankees’ starters strike people out, limit walks, and are excellent contact managers.
They are a tough bunch to score against: the “worst” pitcher, Montgomery, has a very solid 3.02 ERA that would put him in ace territory for almost every other team.
The Yankees rotation has been carrying the team this year, and as long as everybody is healthy, there is no reason to think the five stars will stop dominating the competition.
NEXT: Stats Show How The Yankees Continue To Win No Matter The Challenge