Yankee Starters Horrible So Far this Year; Yankee Relievers Spotless

Except for Kirby Yates. And Masahiro Tanaka. The Yankee starters are sporting horrible ERA’s this year; the relievers are spotless. The pitching chart jumps out at you. The stats so far:

The Yankees have lost 4 in a row and are now 4-6 after a good start. The offense has been getting hits and walks, and men on base, but leaving them stranded in scoring position. The ball pen has been great. But the starting pitching…

Starting Pitching Has Been a Disappointment

.. the starting pitching has been a disappointment. The good news — everyone’s healthy so far (knock on wood). And although the ERA’s are sky high, the performances haven’t been that bad.

• Nathan Eovaldi looked electric Thursday night, but made two mistakes — homerun balls to Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion, that did him in.
• Luis Severino pitched ok on Friday, but made a mistake to Chris Iannetta for a homerun ball that did him in. His so-so performances have left some wondering if he’s really that good.
• CC Sabathia looked good in his first start, but looked mediocre yesterday (Saturday) as he couldn’t get out of the 5th. Still he allowed only 3 runs and the Yankee ballpen held it there — but the Yankees only managed 2 runs so he lost 3-2.
• Masahiro Tanaka has pitched fairly well — he hasn’t looked like a super ace but he’s been decent.
• Michael Pineda doesn’t look as sharp as he did at the beginning of last year.
• Ivan Nova has been horrific in relief.

Ballpen Brilliant

The Yankee ballpen ERA speaks for itself. And remember Aroldis Chapman their ace reliever isn’t here yet, sitting out the suspension.

• Andrew Miller — has been filthy good.
• Dellin Betances — has looked sharp, blowing people away with his curve/fastball combination.
• Chasen Shreve — looks as good as he did the first 4 months of last year. Remember the Yankees got him from Atlanta for Manny Banuelos. Manny is on the DL with elbow soreness. Last year Banuelos went  1-4 5.13, 26 IP, 30 Hits. A lot of Yankee fans complained about Brian Cashman trading Banuelos away at the time.
• Johnny Barbato — Michael Kay said the Blue Jays were “awed by his stuff”

Today it’s Mashahiro Tanaka and the Yankee Bullpen against Hisashi Iwakuma and the Seattle Mariners.