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The Yankees' magnificent starting pitcher achieves a feat not seen in 131 years

The Yankees' magnificent starting pitcher achieves a feat not seen in 131 years

The New York Yankees have the best record in baseball, and of course the crazy duo of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto have played a big role.

But no one could have predicted what would come out of their rotation, not to mention reigning Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole.

The Yankees' starters have the second-lowest ERA in all of baseball at 2.73, two-thousandths of a career higher than the Philadelphia Phillies.

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The New York logo is displayed on a cap during the Braves game on August 14, 2023 at Truist Park in Atlanta. (Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

But the stretch his rotation has had over the last two and a half weeks is literally unprecedented.

After Néstor Cortés pitched five two-run innings Tuesday night (both runs came on Kevin Pillar's first-inning home run), it was the 15th consecutive outing in which a pinstriped starting pitcher allowed two or fewer races in five. or more entries.

It now ranks as the longest streak since the mound was moved to its current distance (60'6″) back in 1893.

The Yankees' rotation was perhaps their biggest question mark in spring training, especially after Cole suffered an elbow injury: Carlos Rodón was a bust in his first year of a $162 million contract in 2023, Cortés had gone down , rookie Luis Gil had slid into the No. 5 start, free agent signing Marcus Stroman had been inconsistent and Clarke Schmidt pitched to a 4.64 ERA last year. Nothing helped when Cortes allowed three runs in the first inning of Opening Day.

Nestor Cortés of the New York Yankees pitches against Los Angeles at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on May 28, 2024. (Ronald Martínez/Getty Images)

However, only one of their starters (Cortés) has an ERA above 3.00 this season. In fact, it's rookie Gil who has been the most dominant, pitching to a 2.11 ERA and striking out 11.4 batters per nine innings.

Despite making history, the Yankees fell to the lowly Los Angeles Angels, 4-3, when Clay Holmes blew the save on his first pitch out of the bullpen in the eighth inning.

The loss dropped the Yankees to 37-19, and was their second straight loss – of course, causing panic in the Bronx, despite it being only the sixth time all year they've lost consecutive games.

The success of the rotation has many people wondering who, if anyone, will move into the bullpen upon Cole's return, which could happen next month.