With Chance Adams recent surge and the rotation woes in the Bronx, the New York Yankees may add another youngster into the mix.
It has been a rough two weeks for the New York Yankees starting rotation.
Over the last 14 days, the starting five has posted the tenth-worst ERA in the Major Leagues (5.18) while being one of the main reasons why New York has lost seven of their last 10 contests and their American League East lead.
Ace Masahiro Tanaka has been unable to work his splitter to success, CC Sabathia and Luis Severino have dealt with inconsistencies, Jordan Montgomery is still getting his feet wet and Michael Pineda has swiftly matured into one of the better pitchers in baseball here in late-May.
The rotation simply cannot perform at this pace if the Yankees want to contend here in 2017. The offense is firing on all cylinders despite the absence of Greg Bird, but the team as a whole will live and die by the rotation. If improvement doesn’t miraculously appear in all these arms, an addition may be required.
[graphiq id=”k9dyzdiQykB” title=”New York Yankees 2017 Starting Pitchers” width=”600″ height=”529″ url=”https://sw.graphiq.com/w/k9dyzdiQykB” frozen=”true”]Yes, some have stirred the pot and recommend Brian Cashman splurge on Gerrit Cole or even Jose Quintana at the deadline, but there is a prospect in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre who has been on fire. A couple more quality starts, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see Chance Adams earn a promotion to the Bronx.
Adams began the 2017 season in Double-A Trenton and in six starts, he gave up just four earned runs over 35 innings (Eastern League-leading 1.03 ERA at the time) while striking out 32 batters. Hitters slashed just .183/.275/.278 off New York’s fifth-round pick of the 2015 MLB Draft. His debut for the RailRiders came on May 14, where he held the Syracuse Chiefs to no runs over five innings of work while striking out six.
The righty’s latest start answered all question marks about pitching against the highest level in minor league baseball, as Adams posted three perfect innings to start his second Triple-A start on May 19.
Although a home run by Zack Granite of the Rochester Red Wings broke up the perfection, Adams retired nine of the next 10 batters. He finished with seven shutout innings with five strikeouts and — for the first time this season — no walks.
MLB Pipeline lists the 22-year-old as the seventh-best prospect in the Yankees organization and the 100th-best prospect in all of baseball. As noted in a previous column, his arsenal includes a fastball that averages around 92-94 mph and has topped out at 95, a slider that comes out in the mid-80s, a changeup that has made strides over the last two seasons and a curveball that can be located well.
This stint will continue to be a test for Adams especially with his shaky command, but early on, it seems as though the Scottsdale native is more than capable to dominate the level.
While the team is in first place, a major goal of 2017 is to assess young talent at the major league level. They’re doing that with the Baby Bombers, Montgomery, Giovanny Gallegos and even Jonathan Holder. If the rotation’s woes proceed while Adams continues to prove he is the real deal, a 40-man roster move to make room for a new youngster in the rotation may be in store — no matter where they are in the standings.
