Mike Francesa is not impressed.
“Yankee pitching is now completely off the rails,” the WFAN legend tweeted Sunday as the Cardinals were teeing off on the Bombers en route to a 12-9 win and a series sweep this weekend in St. Louis. The recently-acquired Frankie Montas got bombed in his debut, allowing six runs on five hits in three innings of work to take the loss. The Yankees have now lost five straight.
The Yankees’ team ERA is over a run higher since the All-Star break as opposed to before it. They were at 3.08 entering the break; they were at 4.24 entering Sunday (and it’s going to go up). Their team ERA in August is 4.40 (and it was at 4 in July).
Gerrit Cole was a disaster in his last start. And inspires no confidence as the so-called ace. Jameson Taillon has been a mess for a while now. Same with closer Clay Holmes. Luis Severino won’t be back until September. Nestor Cortes — now the key to the Yankees’ season — has pitched well. But his workload is going to be a concern heading into October. Same with Montas, who battled shoulder inflammation recently. Oh, and Jordan Montgomery kind of stuck it to Brian Cashman this weekend, no?
We feel like an old-school from the big guy is coming on the next edition of his BetRivers podcast. And understandably so. Because there is no way the Yankees can win the World Series if their arms don’t get going. You can stay away from the panic button with the offense for now. There are a bunch of injuries the lineup is working through. But the pitching staff pretty much is what it is. And right now, it’s not good enough. Not anywhere close.
OTHER YANKEES STORIES ON ESNY:
• Check out this wild Gerrit Cole stat
• Yankees, Mets thoughts after MLB trade deadline
• Joey Gallo’s future unclear after Dodgers trade
• What to expect from Yankees’ new arms
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
