As we have seen in our first article, the Yankees had their best month of the season in September, but their loss of form in previous months meant that it was too little, too late to catch the Toronto Blue Jays.

There were a few players on the pitching staff who lost their way in September and others who simply weren’t available because of its injury. This meant that youth had its day and the batting of Aaron Judge and the outstanding starters resulted in that 18-7 September record.

Let’s see who led the way:

Name/Pos	W	L	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	WHIP
Austin Slater of/p	0	0	0.00	1	0	1	0	0	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	1.50
Paul Blackburn rp	0	0	0.90	6	0	6	0	0	10.0	6	2	1	2	14	0.80
David Bednar rp	1	0	1.59	11	0	10	0	7	11.1	6	2	2	4	15	0.88
Max Fried sp	5	0	1.89	5	5	0	0	0	33.1	26	7	7	9	35	1.05
Carlos Rodon sp	3	2	2.61	5	5	0	0	0	31.0	21	10	0	6	26	0.87
Luis Gil sp	2	0	2.93	5	5	0	0	0	27.2	19	10	9	14	12	1.19
Cam Schlittler sp	2	1	3.65	5	5	0	0	0	24.2	18	10	10	11	20	1.18
Devin Williams rp	1	1	3.72	10	0	0	0	0	9.2	6	4	4	5	14	1.14
Tim Hill rp	0	0	4.76	7	0	1	0	0	5.2	6	3	3	1	3	1.24
Camilo Doval rp	0	0	4.91	9	0	4	0	0	7.1	7	4	4	3	9	1.36
Will Warren sp	1	2	5.13	5	5	0	0	0	26.1	27	17	15	5	22	1.22
Fernando Cruz rp	1	1	6.75	13	0	0	0	0	10.2	11	8	8	10	12	1.97
Ryan Yarbrough sp/rp	0	0	7.27	3	0	1	0	1	8.2	10	7	7	2	6	1.38
Mark Leiter Jr rp	1	0	9.53	7	0	1	0	0	5.2	8	6	6	4	5	2.12
Luke Weaver rp	1	0	9.64	12	0	1	0	0	9.1	14	10	10	4	11	1.93
Name/Pos	W	L	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	WHIP

Starters

Each of the five starters contributed 5 starts to the 25 games of September. Max Fried was the centrepiece of this rotation again. He pitched an average of 6.2 innings in these games producing 5 wins and a miniscule 1.05 WHIP and a 1.89 ERA. His signing has proved a massive boost especially in light of Gerrit Coles not being available.

Luis Gil lost so much of this season to injury and he has had a lot of ground to make up. He seems unlikely to have a prominent role in the playoffs, primarily because less starters will be required and hidden behind his 2.93 ERA (2nd best among the starters this month) is that he walks more than he strikes out, making him 4th on the WHIP stat among those in the rotation. The ERA of 2.93 is obviously a strength but my guess is that he will be looking fo a place as a long reliever when the second round of the playoff comes around.

Ahead of him in the mix and leading the starters in WHIP is Carlos Rodon who has grown during his time with the Yankees and now really looks the part. He led the starters in WHIP (2nd only to bit player Paul Blackburn overall). 2nd in ERA amongst the starters, 2nd in innings pitched, 2nd in wins. Really nothing to complain about here.

The best of the young starters this month was Cam Schlittler. He does sometimes rely overly on his ability to strike batters out and he needs to strengthen his arsenal in spring next year. He went 2-1 with a 3.65 ERA (4th among the starters) and a 1.18 WHIP (3rd among the starters).

Somebody having a weaker month – but only by comparison with the other members of the rotation – was Will Warren. He lost more than he won and came 5th among the starters in most categories. He will need to bounce back a little – but as I say he was still good, so it is all relative. I met him during the month and he seems to be a likeable and approachable young man. 2026 will tell us more.

Relievers

The 4 most used guys coming out of the bullpen were a mixed bag: Fernando Cruz, Luke Weaver, David Bednar and Devin Williams.

David Bednar, who came in at the trade deadline, has been dominant, and it will be a delight to see what he can do over a whole season next year. The “Renegade” picked up another 7 saves in his 11 appearances. Of the relievers, he was second only to Blackburn who has surprised me. He gave up only 2 runs and his WHIP was second only to Blackburn (there’s a theme developing here). When he wasn’t keeping the game locked down for saves, he also added in a win.

My second favourite among the major players in the bullpen is Luke Weaver but he did rather come unravelled in September and I wonder if it might have damaged his future in the Bronx with free agency approaching. He was on the team in ERA and 3rd to last in WHIP. It really wasn’t a good month. I’d like to see the Yankees chase him for 2026, but he hurt his chances. 12 appearances / 9.64 ERA / 1.93 WHIP. Not good. Bye, bye Luke?

Devin Williams who came in as the closer and then was replaced by Bednar, played in one less game than Weaver this month. He is one player I really want to say goodbye to. This month he was average, very average, and his figures look okay only because of the appalling first half of the season he had.

Last in this group was Fernando Cruz, who was very unsteady, He played imost games of the 4 I have listed. His ERA was up around 7 and his WHIP higher than Weaver’s. The Yankees expect more of him than this and they have right to do so.

Next comes Camilo Doval, and then Tim Hill and Mark Leiter Jr. Leiter was awful, but the Yankees left him in and watched him meltdown in situations he couldn’t handle and where he was out of his depth because of his loss of form. Hill and his quirky pitching style are a blessing and Doval has now settled into his role after a difficult start.

Ryan Yarbrough was the long reliever and his 7.27 ERA raises some large question marks about his future.

When Paul Blackburn first came in, acquired on waivers from the New York Mets, it looked like he might stick around the clubhouse for a few days as someone to mop up innings when the team was losing and then once again be let go. He has already achieved much more than that. He has struck out 14 and walked only 2 this month. His ERA and WHIP are less than 1. He has averaged 1 2/3 innings per outing. Surprising!!

Well, as I have been writing these notes I have realised there is a finality about them. I have been at every home Yankees game during September and they are doing well but I can’t see them achieving much in the playoffs. I really hope they surprise me.