One of the biggest reasons for the New York Yankees' early success this season has been a surprising turnaround from the pitching staff.
Specifically the starting rotation, the Yankees have gotten quality starts for the majority of the season despite ace Gerrit Cole starting the campaign on the 60-day injured list due to elbow inflammation.
On Friday night, Yankees starter Carlos Rodon tossed six scoreless innings en route to an 8-0 win over the San Diego Padres.
According to Katie Sharp, it was the 11th time this season a Yankees starter has gone six scoreless innings. That mark leads MLB and also ties what the Yankees did throughout the entire 2023 season.
This is the 11th time a Yankee starter has pitched at least 6 scoreless innings.
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) May 25, 2024
That's the most in MLB.
It's also the same number of times the Yankees did that the ENTIRE season last year. https://t.co/e6zNExiVu8
The starting rotation has come a long way. They are getting extremely quality outings from Rodon, who is putting himself in the conversation for Comeback Player of the Year.
Rookie Luis Gil is proving to be the team's X-factor as the fifth starter even though he's pitching on a level similar to an ace.
Meanwhile, the trio of Nestor Cortes, Marcus Stroman and Clarke Schmidt have all given the Yankees stability in the middle of the rotation.
After Friday night's win, the starting rotation has the best ERA (2.79) in the American League and the second-best in MLB behind only the Philadelphia Phillies. They also lead the AL in strikeouts per nine innings (9.1) and are second in batting average on balls in play (.261).
For the month of May, the starting rotation's 2.05 ERA is by far the best in MLB to go along with 131.2 innings pitched, the most in MLB during that span.
The Yankees currently own the best record in the American League, and much of it has to do with the incredible stretch the starting rotation has enjoyed to begin the season.
For more Yankees coverage, check out Kevin Hickey's work on Sporting News.
