The Yankees used 6 starters and 14 relievers in September. Marcus Stroman‘s continuing struggles made him look very much like the 6th starter for the future, which is not an enviable place to be in going into the playoffs.

All-in-all though, the team was looking strong in terms of pitching, and they had more than enough arms to give them confidence going forward.

They were 15 wins and 11 losses on the month. Let’s see where their strengths lay and where they had weaknesses.

Name/Pos	W	L	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	WHIP
Phil Bickford rp	0	0	0.00	2	0	1	0	0	2.1	0	0	0	0	1	0.86
Ian Hamilton rp	0	0	1.13	8	0	2	0	1	8.0	4	1	1	0	11	0.50
Luke Weaver rp	3	0	1.50	9	0	5	0	4	12.0	6	3	2	3	25	0.75
Tim Hill rp	0	0	1.59	10	0	2	0	0	11.1	6	2	2	3	8	0.79
Carlos Rodon sp	2	0	2.20	5	5	0	0	0	28.2	21	9	7	10	34	1.08
Gerrit Cole sp	3	2	2.53	5	5	0	0	0	32.0	16	11	9	7	30	0.72
Cody Poteet rp	0	0	2.70	1	0	0	0	0	3.1	3	1	1	1	3	1.20
Nestor Cortes sp/rp	1	0	2.79	4	3	1	0	0	19.1	16	6	6	8	20	1.24
Mark Leiter Jr, rp	1	0	3.24	7	0	1	0	0	8.1	8	3	3	3	14	1.32
ClarKe Schmidt sp	0	2	3.65	5	5	0	0	0	24.2	22	12	10	10	26	1.30
Luis Gil sp	3	1	4.00	5	5	0	0	0	27.0	21	12	12	11	27	1.19
Tim Mayza rp	0	0	4.09	8	0	2	0	0	11.0	11	5	5	3	9	1,27
Jake Cousins rp	1	1	4.50	8	0	0	0	0	6.0	3	4	3	8	10	1.83
Tommy Kahnle rp	0	1	4.50	10	0	2	0	1	8.0	8	6	4	3	9	1.38
Scott Effross rp	0	0	5.40	3	0	1	0	0	3.1	3	2	2	2	2	1.50
Clay Holmes rp	1	1	6.00	12	0	6	0	1	9.0	9	6	6	6	8	1.67
Clayton Beeter rp	0	0	6.75	2	0	0	0	0	2.2	3	2	2	1	5	1.50
Marcus Stroman sp/rp	0	3	8.80	4	3	1	0	1	15.1	31	15	15	3	11	2.22
Ron Marinaccio rp	0	0	18.00	2	0	1	0	0	2.0	5	4	4	1	3	3.00
Will Warren sp/rp	0	0	27.00	1	0	1	0	0	1.0	2	3	3	1	3	3.00
Name/Pos	W	L	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	WHIP

Starters

For the strongest starter, you could flip a coin and choose between Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole, and there really wasn’t much in it. Rodon had 2 wins and no losses across his five starts. Cole, similarly had 5 starts, winning 3 and losing 2. Both had strikeout totals that were 30 or over. Cole pitched more innings than Rodon and had a better WHIP.

Other strong starters? Well, most of them really. Nestor Cortes went into the month looking like he would be back of Stroman in the pecking order, but he soon overcame difficulties, rounding out with 3 starts out of his four appearances – although he only achieved one win, but then all the other starts were no decisions. He had a 2.97 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Clarke Schmidt was also unfortunate in the wins and losses columns. His 0-2 record hid the fact that he had a 1.30 WHIP. His ERA of 3.65 was a little lacklustre across his five starts. Luis Gil made 5 starts for a 3-1 record with 1 no decision. His ERA too could have been better (4.00), but his WHIP held a sparkle at 1.19.

And then we turn to the aforementioned disaster called Stroman. 4 starts, 3 losses. A mountainous 8,80 ERA, but the WHIP of 2.22 suggested he might have been a bit unlucky in some ways. However, if the Yankees could offload his contract in the off-season, I don’t think they would be grumbling.

Relievers

Ian Hamilton and Luke Weaver were the chief figures coming out of the bullpen. Between them, they made 17 appearances and achieved 5 saves with Weaver taking the lion’s portion. Weaver also managed 3 wins whilst neither of them took a loss. Hamilton brought home an ERA of 1.13, Weaver’s was 1.50 and both had a WHIP that was well below 1.

And if you wanted a supporting man, there was sidearmer Tim Hill, who was on great form across 10 appearances on the mound. He too had a commendable ERA and WHIP.

Mark Leiter Jr., Tim Mayza, Jake Cousins, and Tommy Kahnle were mostly middle relievers and producing performances that were of a medium quality. Leiter perhaps looked the best of the four – the sharpest he had seemed since joining the roster. Kahnle made most appearances. Mayza pitched more innings than anyone of the other three. So, all looks well for whoever Aaron Boone thinks he needs most in the playoffs.

The weakest of the regularly used relievers was Clay Holmes. He pitched in 12 games and the pitcher who had been anointed the closer for most of the year, still finished up 6 games, but he took only one save and came away with a 6.00 ERA. His 1.67 WHIP showed just how much he was off his game. The closer mantle had passed to Weaver and it seems there is no going back to that role for Holmes. His contract is up at the end of the season and whether the Yankees will look to re-sign him in free agency is going to be one of those questions.

Bit players? The good, the bad and the ugly… Phil Bickford had looked pretty awful in the games he had featured in earlier in the year. But his two brief appearances in September and one in August were pretty exceptional and while he won’t make the post season roster, he did enough to make teams keeps their eyes on him in Spring Training. Cody Poteet is another who did just about enough to keep him as a prospect for somebody somewhere in 2025.

Scott Effross and Clayton Beeter were not living up to their billing and Effross particularly, with injuries and all, was a disappointment to the Yankees.

But at least they weren’t Ron Marinaccio or Will Warren. Marinaccio’s confidence is shot-to-pieces and his September ERA of 18.00 speaks volumes. If he is considered by the Yankees in 2025 or even in the major leagues, this writer will be surprised.

Warren was being considered as a starter earlier in the year. The only thing in his favour was that his 27.00 ERA only came from the tiniest sample of 1 inning in 1 game. If the Yankees suffer a lot of injuries or if he has a great Spring, he may find himself with another chance.