The offseason is a wonderful time of the year for baseball
fans because everyone is in first place and the sky is the limit. There’s still
plenty of hope to be had as there are still trades to be made, free agents to
be signed and promising young guys to come up at Spring Training camps across
the league making an impact. There’s plenty to be hopeful for right now so with
that theme and trend in mind I am going to be a little hopeful and imagine a
scenario where the New York Yankees finally see a year where both starting
pitchers Michael Pineda and Luis Severino put it all together for an entire
year.
Pineda has some of the best stuff in the game and his
swinging strike percentage and whiff rates on his slider are mind boggling when
you look at how many home runs he gives up and what his bloated ERA looks like.
One start Pineda will strike out 16 Baltimore Orioles on Mother’s Day and the
next start he’ll give up five home runs and be chased from the game in the
fourth inning. It defies the odds and it simply doesn’t make sense. Pineda has
one thing going for him besides another healthy season under his belt in 2016,
he has an impending free agency coming up after the 2017 season. Some may just
think I’m being superstitious or overly hopeful here but it’s uncanny how
players can struggle until their “contract year” only to turn it on before
hitting a big pay day. Many, many others have done it before Pineda, so why
couldn’t Big Mike?
Severino is still somehow just 22-years old and entering
just his second full season as a Major Leaguer in 2017 so it perplexes me why
so many are ready to give up on him so quickly this early in his career. Severino
was masterful in his first call up only to take a step back as a starter in
2016. After a couple demotions and an injury or two Severino found himself in
the bullpen where he was absolutely dominant. Severino finding dominance in the
bullpen should not damn him to the bullpen forever but should instead show the
fans and the organization that he can not only get MLB caliber hitters out
consistently but it should also show himself that he can. Confidence is key and
Severino had to garner a little bit of that back this summer in the bullpen.
Who is to say that won’t carry over to spring training this year and then into
the 2017 regular season? I’m not a betting man by any means but I feel like I wouldn’t
bet against it if I was.
New York already has Masahiro Tanaka at the top of the
rotation and CC Sabathia anchoring the bottom half of the rotation so if the
team can slot in a successful and confident Michael Pineda and Luis Severino in
between them… well the rest of the league better watch out. The Yankees
wouldn’t have a starting rotation on paper that could compete with the Boston
Red Sox but in my opinion, and all bias aside, the team would have one of the
most underrated staffs and team as a whole in all of the American League. Add
that with one of Luis Cessa or Chad Green or a midseason trade by Brian Cashman
and the Yankees could really scare some folks in 2017.
It’s all a dream right now but here in a few months it could
all be a reality. Stay tuned.
We don't need a starting pitcher, as most everyone says to trade some of our future away again.
ReplyDeletePitchers are the most injury prone players on the field, and the most likely to have head problems along with any injury...see, Pineda and Serverino.
As I have said time and again, use what we have and see just what we have and next year when CC and A-Rod are off the clock...get what we need, NOT, what we want!
Unless we can get 60 wins from our five top pitchers, we aren't going anywhere this year...right? In a dream world we could do it, and may yet...we have pitchers with the talent to win more than 15 games.
Let's get to the playoffs this year and win it all next year.
Hay, I can dream right? Well, I think it could happen.
Officer Reed is correct.
ReplyDeleteEither when he is hanging upside down in a tree, or barking advice
to me, he is correct. Maybe not 100%.
Yes, we do not need to trade for a staring pitcher.
No, we do need starting pitching.
Unless mgmt. comes clean, I am under the distinct impression
that the 2017 season is for auditioning only. The real show
hits the road in April of 2018. I hate watching B movies.
So you need pitching, young pitching ? By not tradeing away your future ?
Again...Trade Tanaka, trade Pineda....along with a Mateo type, to
sweeten the pot.....for young MLB ready arms.
Focus on the young arms for 2018. Allow them to get their feet wet
at 2017 seasons end.
That is how I would go.