Yankees' rotation 'been excellent' even without Gerrit Cole

NEW YORK – We’re two months past that five-alarm day at spring training, when Gerrit Cole’s elbow issue loomed as a major detriment to the Yankees’ best October hopes.

The circumstances would test the team’s already thin starting pitching depth right away.

If they could only stay afloat in the AL East until Cole returned, well, much of Yankees Universe might’ve signed up for that scenario heading into Opening Day.

Since then, the collective Yankees’ rotation has been the biggest reason – this side of on-base machine Juan Soto – that they’ve arrived home with the AL’s best record this weekend.

“They’ve been excellent,’’ said Yankees manager Aaron Boone, prior to Friday night’s 4-2 win over the Chicago White Sox, with lefty Nestor Cortes extending the staff's run.

Cortes yielded one unearned run over seven innings, lowering the Yankees rotation's ERA to 3.03, the second lowest among AL clubs.

“They’ve given us a chance to win virtually every day, and ultimately that’s what it’s all about,’’ Boone said. “They’ve done it consistently and they’ve done it well.’’

Yankees' rotation getting it done, while waiting on Gerrit Cole

Cole’s due date back to the rotation might be around July 1, though there’s publicly no target date, and there’s no need to put a rush on his return.

If there’s a golden second-half scenario, it’s that the Yankees maintain their AL East lead, and Cole builds back to his ace status by September, with a division clinching in sight.

Then, come October, it’s a relatively fresh-armed Cole leading the charge into postseason.

It’s the dream scenario for the Yankees, yes. But they’ve already received more than they likely could have wished from their Cole-less rotation to this point.

With Cortes' outing Friday, the Yankees’ starters were in a unique stretch, having posted a 0.27 ERA (33 innings, one earned run) in their last five starts.

This was just the sixth time in franchise history that Yankees starters had pitched at least six innings while yielding just one earned run in a five-start span, with the first four of those starts on the road – one game at Tampa Bay and a three-game sweep at Minnesota.

Yankees rotation's reliability in 2024

It's also the eighth time since 1945 that Yankees starters have pitched at least four innings across the first 46 games of a season.

That reliability has allowed the Yankees’ bullpen to perform at a better clip, with Luke Weaver emerging as a consistent multi-inning force and closer Clay Holmes still sporting a zero ERA through 19 appearances, after his 13th save on Friday.

“They’ve really set the tone for us here to start the year,’’ Boone said of his rotation, with three-or-fewer earned runs allowed in 37 of their first 46 starts.

Veterans Carlos Rodon (3.31 ERA) and Marcus Stroman (3.31) have performed consistently, and their ERAs are higher than Clarke Schmidt (2.49) and Luis Gil (2.51), the fourth and fifth starters.

Entering Friday night’s start, Cortes (4.02) had endured a bumpy period in three starts (17.2 IP, 10 ER) since back-to-back seven inning starts, yielding three earned runs total.

But Cortes arrived home with a 2.66 ERA in 33 career Yankee Stadium starts (1.59 in four home starts this year, as opposed to a 6.75 ERA in five road starts).

The lefty Cortes was aided offensively by home runs from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, who connected in the same game for the fourth time this season and 39th time overall as Yankees teammates.

The Yankees are 35-4 in those games, including four postseason games.

Judge's team-leading 12th homer of the year was also his sixth homer in his last 11 games, since May 5.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees' rotation has exceeded expectations so far in 2024