If the Yankees batting fell apart in June (with the exception of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge – it’s becoming like a mantra), then the pitching, particularly the starting rotation also hit massive problems.

Here are the pitching statistics for June:

* 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
Oswaldo Cabrera if/of/rp	0	0	0.00	1	0	1	0	0	0.1	0	0	0	2	0	6.00
Jake Cousins rp	0	0	0.00	2	0	1	0	0	2.1	0	0	0	0	3	0.00
John Maciejewski rp*	0	0	0.00	1	0	1	0	0	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	1.00
Anthony Misiewicz rp	0	0	0.00	1	0	0	0	0	1.0	2	0	0	1	1	3.00
Michael Tonkin rp	2	0	1.10	13	0	4	0	1	16.1	7	2	2	6	19	0.80
Tim Hill rp*	0	0	1.50	5	0	2	0	0	6.0	7	4	1	0	1	1.17
Cody Poteet sp	2	0	2.40	3	3	0	0	0	15.0	9	5	4	7	9	1.07
Luke Weaver rp	1	0	2.70	9	0	1	0	0	10.0	9	3	3	3	9	1.20
Tommy Kahnle rp	0	0	3.72	12	0	1	0	0	9.2	9	5	4	6	16	1.55
Nestor Cortes sp*	1	3	3.97	6	6	0	0	0	34.0	37	15	15	4	31	1.21
Marcus Stroman sp	2	1	5.13	5	5	0	0	0	26.1	25	15	15	14	15	1.48
Victor Gonzalez rp	0	0	5.14	8	0	2	0	0	7.0	4	5	4	4	5	1.14
Caleb Ferguson rp*	1	0	5.40	10	0	1	0	0	8.1	10	5	5	4	11	1.68
Clay Holmes rp	0	2	5.59	10	0	9	0	3	9.2	13	7	6	1	8	1.45
Ron Marinaccio rp	0	0	5.68	4	0	0	0	0	6.1	7	5	4	4	9	1.74
Gerrit Cole sp	1	1	6.23	3	3	0	0	0	13.0	13	9	9	6	11	1.46
Luis Gil sp	2	2	6.45	5	5	0	0	0	22.1	22	16	16	14	20	1.61
Yoendrys Gomez rp	0	0	6.75	2	0	0	0	0	6.2	7	5	5	6	6	1.95
Carlos Rodon sp*	2	3	7.76	5	5	0	0	0	26.2	36	24	23	6	30	1.58
Jose Trevino c/rp	0	0	9.00	1	0	1	0	0	1.0	3	1	1	1	0	4.00
Ian Hamilton rp	0	1	9.95	7	0	0	0	0	6.1	10	8	7	4	9	2.21
Dennis Santana rp	0	0	13.50	4	0	1	0	0	5.1	9	8	8	3	4	2.25
Phil Bickford rp	0	0	14.40	5	0	2	0	0	5.0	8	9	8	1	4	1.80
Name/Pos	W	L	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	WHIP

Starters

The media has been full of suggestions of how much Nestor Cortes is struggling, but when we look at it in the cold light of day, he has the best ERA of any of the regular starters in June. Unfortunately, because of uneven performances and a lack of run support, he closed the month with one win, 3 losses and 2 no-decisions. Truth is he deserved a better record than that, as his 3.97 ERA and 1.21 WHIP show. This makes him clearly the best of the starters who were expected to be in the rotation this season.

Cody Poteet was called up at the beginning of June and was intended to be cover for Clarke Schmidt, who had found his way to the injured list on the last day of May. Poteet pitched an average of 5 innings per start across three starts, giving up only 4 earned runs. He took two wins and no losses. He produced an excellent 2.40 ERA, and a strong 1.07 WHIP. And then… And then he injured his right triceps and was added to the injured list on the same day that Clarke Schmidt was moved to the 60 day list and Ian Hamilton was placed on the 15-day list. Bad news indeed.

After that all the starters carried an ERA of more than 5 across June. Gerrit Cole returned to the active roster on the 19th. Cole decided to take his rehab time on the Yankees roster rather than the minor leagues,,, and it showed. In his first game, he lasted just 4 innings, but gave up only 2 runs. Not a bad start. However, 6 days later, facing the New York Mets, again only 4 innings, but this time 6 runs conceded. 1 loss and 1 no-decision in the first two games, and the loss clearly deserved. Had Cole come back too soon? Well, the third game in Toronto saw him turn it all around. 5 innings, 1 run and his first win. I’m guessing that July will reveal more.

Marcus Stroman‘s WHIP was marginally worse than Cole’s (1.48 compared to 1.46). His 5 starts brought him 2 wins, 1 loss and 2 no decisions. His 5.13 ERA shows how fortunate he was to come away with more wins than losses.

Luis Gil is showing all the signs that the forecast that he would lose form the higher his innings count goes above his previous best is proving to be true. Gil has been the best of the Yankees’ starters by some considerable distance across March-April-May, but he began to crumble in June. Again, 2 wins, 2 losses wasn’t very revealing, but a 6.45 ERA and 1.61 WHIP puts him low on the list.

And worse than that? Carlos Rodon. Rodon, you may remember, was pretty awful in 2023. He seems to have bounced back this season, but an ERA of 7.78 with 3 losses in 5 starts couldn’t be much worse. He needs to be much better in July.

Relievers

Michael Tonkin wasn’t expected to be the Yankees most used reliever in June, but he has surprised everyone. You may remember (but probably not) that Tonkin arrived as a waivers claim at the end of April, when the New York Mets gave up on him. In May, he did very well across 7 appearances. The 13 games in June saw him take it to a whole other level. Most games, 1 save, 2 wins, no losses, 1.10 ERA (team leading among the regulars), 0.80 WHIP (team leading among the regulars). Signing him was an inexpensive risk. Like Ian Hamilton last year, it has paid off marvellously – whatever happens from here on in.

Tommy Kahnle has bounced back well from long-term injury. In 12 games in June, he produced a 3.72 and a 1,55 WHIP.

Caleb Ferguson and Clay Holmes both appeared in 10 games. They are quite a contrast. Ferguson has shown no merit all season and he continues in that way. I can only think that the Yankees are keeping him around because they are low on left-handed relievers. There could be no other reason. 5.40 ERA and 1.68 WHIP. Please send him on his way! Holmes on the other is a confidence pitcher. He is good when things are going that way, and the opposite if he has a couple of games where things go wrong. This month was mostly in the latter category. He still picked up 3 saves, but things are spinning out of his control.

Luke Weaver is another in the same category as Tonkin. Indeed, if it were possible, he might be even more surprising. This is because he got his start as a Yankee in the rotation at the end of 2023, watching him I didn’t even figure that he would be back in 2024. The relief pitcher he has become is a totally different prospect. His run of form continued into June. In 9 games (with one win), he had a 2.70 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP.

Victor Gonzalez played in 8 games in June. On the 21st, he was designated for assignment and three days later, he chose to be outrighted to Scranton. Frankly, if Gonzalez had the good fortune to pitch with his left arm, Ferguson would be gone instead.

Ian Hamilton as mentioned now is on the injured list. He had been struggling, playing to a 9.95 ERA in June. Whether this was due to an undisclosed injury is something, I guess, we will never know.

Tim Hill came in as a free agent on the 20th. After a poor start, he settled well and performed strongly in 5 games.

Phil Bickford also made a bad start, but for him it simply got worse. He was called up on the 21st and designated for assignment on the last day of the month. In the meantime, he appeared in 5 games and produced a 14.40 ERA. Every reason to give up on this one.

Ron Marinaccio bounces back and forth. On the 9th, he was brought up from Scranton / Wilkes – Barre Railriders. In between, he did very little across 4 appearances. A 5.68 ERA and 1.74 WHIP. How many more chances will they give him?

Another right-hander who has lost his way is Dennis Santana. 4 games in from the beginning of the month and carrying a 13.50 ERA, the Yankees designated him for assignment on the 9th. If the Yankees hoped he would clear waivers and be available once he had regained form, they were to be sorely disappointed. Two days later, he would be claimed by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Jake Cousins who had struggled in two appearances in April, gained a surprise opportunity this month and was really just regarded as a makeweight. He was called up late in the month (27th) to replace Yoendrys Gomez on the roster. He played in two games without giving up a hit across 2.1 innings.

Yoendrys Gomez, was someone I argued last month, had done well enough to gain a permanent call up. It looked like he’d got one, but after two games struggling as a long reliever, he was once more in Scranton. 6.75 ERA, 1.95 WHIP.

Long surnames are the order of the day with left-hander John Maciejewski, and right-hander Anthony Misiewicz both made one relief appearance and did very well. Misiewicz is back in the minors and Maciejewski was a very late month call-up.

The final nail in the story of this month’s story of the relief pitching was that two batters had to be used to close out games which going so bad that the bullpen was exhausted. Jose Trevino and Oswaldo Cabrera were the unfortunates who had to be called upon.