While the conversations about whether the Yankees’ offense will be good enough or not continue to rage on, I’ve remained hyperfocused on their pitching staff.
The team’s pitchers and catchers will report sooner than you’d think, and that happens to be the time period where the most injuries occur for pitchers.
Ramping up is difficult and leaves the body susceptible to injuries, especially in the elbow where the ever-important UCL resides, and that’s why you see waves of injuries that time of year.
Jake Cousins, Clarke Schmidt, Luis Gil, Gerrit Cole, Clayton Beeter, and Chase Hampton all experiencing arm injuries, with four of these six pitchers needing season-ending UCL reconstruction surgery before the end of 2025.
As things stand right now, the Yankees are hoping that Paul Blackburn, Elmer Rodriguez, and Brendan Beck are capable backup options in-case of injuries in March, and that creates concern with both their talent and depth for 2026.
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Why The Yankees Need More Than One Starting Pitcher
As things stand right now, Paul Blackburn is the Yankees’ sixth starter, the next man up if someone were to go down with injury, a situation that I would not consider ideal given their plans to make him a reliever.
Jack Curry noted on YES Hot Stove that the organization believes the stuff plays up out of the bullpen, not any mention of making tweaks for him to be a more effective starter.
Blackburn saw both his sinker and cutter improve by over 1 MPH in a reliever role with the Yankees, and batters saw their xwOBA on those two pitches drop from .342 to .285 as a result.
Spring Training is once again the most injury prone time period for pitchers, and in each of the last three Spring Trainings the team has lost at least one top-of-the-rotation starter to open the season.
Positioning yourself to have Paul Blackburn essentially get guaranteed starts in April is bad roster construction given their vision with him as a reliever, and this isn’t a comprable situation to the one they had with Luke Weaver in 2024.
A waiver claim who returned to the Yankees on a $2.5 million contract for 2024, Luke Weaver was also considered in the mix for a rotation spot when Gerrit Cole went down with an elbow injury.
The difference was that the Yankees had two Triple-A starters who could make Major League starts when the team flew to Houston in Luis Gil and Will Warren.
Elmer Rodriguez might be a better prospect than either pitcher was when they were in the Minor Leagues, but he has just one Triple-A start and would be essentially rushed to the big leagues.
Another option would be Brendan Beck, who produced a league-average ERA and xFIP in Triple-A across 15 starts, but was Rule 5 eligible and wasn’t put on the 40-man by the Yankees or plucked by another organization.
This is because his fastball sits between 91-92 MPH and he doesn’t have a deep repertoire, there’s also a very long injury history that he has which should also make him a pitcher you keep a close eye on during the ramp up period.
As things stand right now, the Yankees do not have a proper sixth starter, and while that could be fixed by adding an impact starter, I still think they need depth beyond that.
Whether its someone with options on an MLB deal or a pitcher who is signed to a Minor League deal similar to Carlos Carrasco, the Yankees could use some additional support on the depth chart.
Remember; Will Warren, Marcus Stroman, Carlos Carrasco, and JT Brubaker were all battling to be the team’s no. 6 starter and three of them ended up making the team as one of their five primary starters.
The only reason Brubaker didn’t make the team was because he got hurt in his first Spring Training appearance, and Ryan Yarbrough would be signed later that Spring Training in-part due to his injury.
The primary objective should be adding someone to insert into the no. 2-3 slot while Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole nurse their injuries, but there should be a second starter who can push the current depth guys down the order as well.
Who Could the Yankees Consider For Their Rotation’s Depth Chart?
The Mets have a plethora of starters who could take the ball for them in 2026 but lack that frontend starting option, Justin Hagenman is someone who I think they wouldn’t miss too much with Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat around.
He has a low arm slot, still has two Minor League options, and can throw four different pitches consistently that provided to be somewhat effective in the big leagues.
If the Yankees could acquire him in a deal for a prospect, I think this is a really good pick up for the team to target since they need someone who could also be a reliever option in 2026.
This is a risk because Hagenman doesn’t pitch deep into games much, but he’s handled a larger workload over the last two seasons than he had previously as a reliever.
Another name I’d look at in free agency would be German Marquez who could sign a Minor League free agent deal after a miserable stretch of injuries and poor performance as a once promising pitcher has rotted in Colorado.
The right-hander still has a ~95 MPH fastball, but he has an excellent curveball that still gets a ton of swings and misses, with some upside for him to develop away from Coors Field.
He could definitely be a candidate to add a better changeup or throw his sinker more, and maybe he could end up working out in a reliever role as well if everyone’s healthy and he impresses in Spring Training.
Remember that this is a role that Carlos Carrasco and Marcus Stroman filled last year, so there’s not really much of a bar for him to clear in terms of talent you add as your no. 7 starter.
Not having to rush Elmer Rodriguez could bear fruit later in the season since he could have the time needed to make tweaks or get adjusted to using the Major League ball, which only enters circulation at the Triple-A level.
Keeping Paul Blackburn in a reliever role where he produced a 3.25 xFIP and 24.6% K% with the Yankees is going to be far more beneficial for the team than having to throw him into a starter’s role when he’s been clobbered as one.
The roster value of just having a warm body who can either be optioned or cut without much of a ripple effect is pretty significant when it comes to your starting rotation, especially when you have starters returning from injury.
Last year should be a template on how to build a contender-level rotation; a group that lost so much managed to win 94 games due to an explosive offense and a rotation that never completely broke under the weight of injuries.
Carlos Rodon’s grit down the stretch to keep taking the ball despite a bone spur, Will Warren’s maturation during the season, the emergence of Cam Schlittler, even the small spurts of success from Carlos Carrasco or Marcus Stroman.
Every starter matters, and if the 2026 Yankees want to win the World Series next year and survive the hellish trial of a 162-game season, they’ll need to add more than one starter of note to their roster before Spring Training.