Aaron Judge…! Aaron Judge…!! The 17 games the Yankees won during September were primarily down to Mr Judge, their superstar outfielder, whose sixty plus home runs guaranteed them their place in the post-season.

But, it obviously wasn’t down to Aaron alone. We’ve already seen how much players like Gleyber Torres contributed to getting things rolling in September. And many of the pitchers, both starters and relievers, added great performances into this strong month.

Let’s see who led the way:

* indicates left-handed pitcher. No * indicates right-handed pitcher.

Name/Pos	W	L	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	WHIP
Aroldis Chapman rp	1	0	0.00	5	0	2	0	0	4.1	1	0	0	3	5	0.92
Scott Effross rp	0	0	0.00	4	0	2	0	1	3.1	2	0	0	2	3	1.20
Marwin Gonzalez rp	0	0	0.00	1	0	1	0	0	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Ryan Weber rp	0	0	0.00	2	0	0	0	0	3.0	3	0	0	0	1	1.00
Nestor Cortes sp	2	0	1.80	4	4	1	1	0	20.0	11	4	4	6	18	0.85
Jonathan Loaisiga rp	1	0	1.93	11	0	3	0	0	14.0	11	5	3	4	7	1.07
Wandy Peralta rp	1	1	2.70	7	0	1	0	1	6.2	5	3	2	0	7	0.75
Lou Trivino rp	0	0	2.79	11	0	1	0	1	9.2	10	3	3	4	14	1.45
Ron Marinaccio rp	0	0	3.00	10	0	1	0	0	9.0	9	4	3	9	16	2.00
Luis Severino sp	1	0	3.00	2	2	0	0	0	9.0	5	3	3	4	10	1.00
Jameson Taillon sp	2	1	3.23	5	5	0	0	0	30.2	27	11	11	6	29	1.08
Lucas Luetge rp	1	0	3.38	7	0	1	0	1	8.0	14	3	3	2	9	2.00
Dominic German sp/rp	0	2	3.51	6	5	0	0	0	25.2	20	11	10	9	21	1.13
Clay Holmes rp	2	1	3.55	11	0	7	0	3	12.2	11	7	5	4	11	1.18
Clarke Schmidt rp/sp	0	2	4.15	9	1	1	0	0	17.1	15	9	8	3	18	1.04
Gerrit Cole sp	3	0	4.80	5	5	0	0	0	30.0	21	16	16	10	44	1.03
Frankie Montas sp	1	1	5.14	3	3	0	0	0	14.0	14	8	8	8	13	1.57
Greg Weissert rp	2	0	6.00	8	0	2	0	0	6.0	6	4	4	3	5	1.50
Zack Britton rp	0	0	13.50	3	0	0	0	0	0.2	1	1	1	6	1	10.50
Anthony Banda rp	0	0	–	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	2	3	3	3	0	-.–
Name/Pos	W	L	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	WHIP

Starters

Nestor Cortes continued to excel in 2022. We can no longer talk about him exceeding expectations, because he delivered this month exactly what he had brought to the mound for most of the season. Indeed, his confidence was so high now, that he brought a playfulness to his game, which was unimaginable at the beginning of the year. His appearances this month were limited due to beginning September still on the injured list. He became available in the 8th of the month and settled straight into hus groove. In 4 starts, he deivered 2 wins, a 0.85 WHIP, a 1.80 ERA and a complete game in a rain shortened game against Boston at Yankee Stadium.

Luis Severino only made two starts having once again gone down injured. He returned from the 60-day injured list on the 21st to face Pittsburgh. He took the win on five innings. A shorter appearance 5 days later, gave him a no-decision in the game against Toronto in Canada, This meant a 3.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP, which will do fine if he can stay healthy.

Jameson Taillon was one of three players to provide 5 starts. He gave the team 2 wins, 2 no decisions and 1 loss. He was probably the pick of the three players who had 5 starts. His 3.23 ERA was representative of his performances, and will give the Yankees food for thought as they consider whether to offer him a new long contract at season end – which is probably what it will take to keep him

Dominic German not only made 5 starts, but also gave the Yankees a relief performance. He has done a lot to dig himself out of the hole that his temperament had placed him not so long ago, He was unfortunate to have no wins and to concede two losses. His game facing Tampa Bay on the 11th was perhaps better classed as an opener role than a true start, removed as he was after just one inning. But, it wasn’t there that the losses came. On the 2nd, also facing Tampa, he pitched 6.2 innings for 3 runs (2 earned), but there was absolutely no run support – resulting in a 0-9 whitewash. Later in the month, the batters struggled again this time facing Baltimore, as German gave up 2 runs in 5.1 innings. The Yankees lost 3-2.

Then we come to two who did not deliver to the level that the Yankees had hoped. First, there is ace starter, Gerrit Cole who started the month well in the second half of a doubleheader where the Yankees were facing the Minnesota Twins. This was, perhaps, Cole’s only really good start in September. He gave up only 1 run in six and two-third innings and struck out 14 for his season best in that category. After that he gave up 7 home runs in his next three appearances. This has been the real shadow on his game in 2022. In this 3 appearance period, it meant that he gave up 12 earned runs in 17 innings. Despite this, he did bring home his 12th in the middle game of those three, with Milwaukee on the losing end. His game facing Toronto on the 28th was better but not by much – but once again he achieved a win.

Much worse was Frankie Montas, who has been a disaster since coming in from Oakland. If the Yankees thought that Montas was of a standard to fill the gap by the strange departure of Jordan Montgomery, there is little evidence of it so far. After 2 losses in 5 starts in August, he now brought a win, a no-decision, and a loss in September. On the 20th, he went on the injured list with a worrying right shoulder inflammation. The game on the 4th (Tampa Bay) was very good, but the game on the 9th (also Tampa Bay) was terrible.

Clarke Schmidt made one start amongst his 9 appearance in September. He took a loss in that game and in one of his relief appearances. His ERA of 4.15 was adequate, but his future is sketchy at best.

Relievers

Jonathan Loaisiga, new face Lou Trivino, and closer Clay Holmes each made 11 appearances in September and tied for most games out of the bullpen. Loaisiga is finally looking like he is approaching full fitness and other than a couple of poor performances, was the best of the regular relief pitchers. Trivino had a couple of games when he struggled, and was quickly lifted – but he has been an important addition in the two months he has spent in the Yankees relief corps. Holmes had another very uneven month, and he is not the pitcher he was before the All-Star break.

Aroldis Chapman bounced back, but no so much that the Yankees are considering re-instating him as closer. In his 5 appearances this month, he gave up no runs.

Scott Effross also produced a zero ERA – in 4 appearances. The Yankees acquired Effross from the Chicago Cubs at the trading deadline for Hayden Wesneski. He spent quite a lot of the month on the injured list, but did well when available.

Wandy Peralta led the starters and relievers in WHIP, checking in a very solid 0.75 in September across 7 appearances. Ron Marinaccio had 10 appearances. It wasn’t Ron’s finest month, but he did enough to help out when called upon. Lucas Luetge seems to have fallen out of favour a little since Trivino arrived, despite producing a 3.38 ERA in 7 appearances this month.

Greg Weissert looked as though he had been unlucky in August, but a second month of an ERA around the 6 mark perhaps suggests otherwise. He moved between Scranton and the Bronx, but spent the second half of the month back in the Bronx.

Zack Britton finally made it back to the Majors after his Tommy John surgery – but it was a disaster. His debut came on the 24th, facing Boston. He pitched a 1/3 of an inning, giving up 3 walks and a hit. It didn’t get any better from there. In 2 more appearances, he gave up three more walks. He only achieved two outs across the three games.

Ryan Weber is another who has bounced between the majors and the International League (Triple-A). He returned again for two more appearances without giving up a run. However, it is obvious that for the Yankees, he is just a make-weight to cover for injuries.

A similar note can be attached to Anthony Banda, who did well in a late August game, but then was truly awful in his one appearance in September. He gave up two hits and three walks without achieving a single out.

Finally, and on a lighter note, we can come to that game which German started and got no run support and in which Banda went into meltdown. You remember the one that the Yankees lost 0-9. With one out to go and Banda falling apart the Yankees turned to the universal solution – Marwin Gonzalez, who has played in so many positions for the Yankees this season. Yes, he pitched. He got the final out. He ended the embarrassment.

The New York Yankees – Best Pitchers in September 2022 – (LtoR) 1 to 5 : Nestor Cortes, Wandy Peralta, Jonathan Loaisiga, Lou Trivino, Jameson Taillon