The Pinstriped Baseball Lane

A Stellar Duo of Cole-Severino to Head the Yankees’ Starting Rotation

According to the great George Herman Ruth (a.k.a “The Great Bambino “), he once said, “Baseball was, is and always will be to me the best game in the world…”

Hal Steinbrenner took ownership of the team in 2010 and up until the signing of Gerrit Cole, he has been running the Yankees’ ball-club differently from his father.  For a few seasons now, under the Hal Steinbrenner’s administration, the Yankee organization steered away from signing big free agent contracts.  Under the new ownership, the Yankees are stock piling on prospect and building the team from within.  Yankee fans have been waiting a while to see a big splash, especially one that can help the starting rotation.  It would seem that the saying, “father-like-son” applies to Hal Steinbrenner’s recent acquisition.  He took a page out of his father’s book, to tip the world series’ odds in the Yankees favor for the 2020 season.  He did so, as his father once did with so many big names in the baseball world, by signing them to big money contracts for multiple seasons.

As all Yankee fans know by now, the Yankees have locked up Gerrit Cole to a nine year, $324 million contract.

  That signing makes me personally believe that we just got the missing piece to an already championship built team.  What do I think this means for the team?

  I believe if the team stays healthy, we can do some serious damage.  Why?

In a perfect, non-injury world, new pitching coach 34 year Matt Blake, would be coaching a pitching staff headed by two aces.  In anticipation of the arrival of the baseball season, the team is hoping to have all its players set for whenever Opening Day arrived.

  One player that everyone’s eyes will focus on is Luis Severino, as he has been the Yankee ace for a while.  Fans, like me, will be wanting to keep tabs on his healing process, as he will be recovering during the 2020 season from shoulder surgery and a significant lat strain.

  But like I said earlier, in a perfect non-injury world, the Yankees would have two aces at the head of the starting rotation.

  Pairing Gerrit Cole with Luis Severino, who posted ace-like numbers in the first half of 2018, could prove to be one of the elite tandems in baseball. Factor in a healthy Paxton and their top three options represent absolute dominance.

  According to the Yankees skipper, Aaron Boone spoke about both pitchers :

“In Gerrit, we’re seeing a guy in the prime of his career, arguably the best pitcher in the sport right now.”

“Sevy’s now been through a lot in this game. He’s been a Cy Young candidate, he’s gotten to the big leagues fast, he’s gone through some tough times, he’s gone through some failures, he’s gone through massive successes, he’s gone through an injury-plagued season now, but his talent and determination, coupled with those experiences that he’s had already as a young man, I think will only benefit him going forward…”

  I expect both Cole and Severino to be dominant whenever the season gets underway, especially because quarantine provides both guys with time to work on perfecting their pitches and maintain their health.  I am hoping that both righties will perform in beast mode when the team needs them to the most.  Also with both guys on the team now, it will be interesting to see how the internal competition will bring out the best in each player.