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Breaking Down the State of the New York Yankees Rotation Battle

Breaking Down the State of the New York Yankees Rotation Battle 1
Mar 3, 2017; Dunedin, FL, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Luis Severino (40) is taken out of the game during the third inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Mar 2, 2017; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Adam Warren (43) pitches in the first inning in the spring training game against the Baltimore Orioles at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

4. Adam Warren

Warren has done nothing to keep him on the outside looking in, besides be one of the most versatile and valuable pitchers on the Yankees’ roster.


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Through three games (two starts), Warren has allowed three runs over eight innings of work (3.38 ERA) and while he’s held the opposition to a .179 batting average, three of the five hits he has surrendered have been home runs. But even if the results surpassed everyone in the competition, he will profit the Bombers much greater in his comfortable swing-man role.

I’ve mapped it out in a column before, but to recap: over his five-year career in the majors, Warren owns a 3.88 ERA and a 6.6 K/9 ratio as a starter compared to 3.51 ERA and 8.0 K/9 ratio as a reliever. More importantly, however, he has averaged 1.32 innings per relief appearance throughout his 184 career outings out of the ‘pen and could help bridge the gap to the back-end tandem of Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman.

Throughout the first half of the 2016 season, Yankee starters averaged jut 5.76 innings per start and while the unit’s ERA was high (4.81), there was no sufficient arm present to help carry leads to the three-headed monster — which explains the 5.28 middle relief ERA and why No Runs DMC couldn’t keep the Yankees over .500.

In case you forgot how important that long relief role is, just read the aforementioned column.

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Christian Kouroupakis
Christian Kouroupakis

Christian Kouroupakis covers the New York Yankees and is the Editorial Director for ESNY. Interact with him and view his daily work by “liking” his facebook page and follow him on Twitter. All statistics are courtesy of Baseball Reference.com unless otherwise noted. Don’t hesitate to shoot him an email with any questions, criticisms, or concerns.