The Yankees’ starting rotation. even with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon out injured, looked really strong on opening day. Despite Ryan Weathers not having a great Spring Training, he is a good addition.

The bullpen looked more questionable, but the hope was with strong starting and David Bednar to finish out the games, it was hoped it would be strong enough.

By the end of April, the rotation was carrying the weight with some batters and some relievers struggling, but the Yankees reached the end of the month with a 1.5 lead at the head of the American League East.

Let’s see who the stronger pitchers were – firstly in March:

Name/Pos	W	L	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	WHIP
David Bednar rp	0	0	0.00	2	0	2	0	2	2.0	1	0	0	2	1	1.50
Jake Bird rp	1	0	0.00	3	0	0	0	0	3.1	1	0	0	0	0	0.30
Fernando Cruz rp	0	0	0.00	2	0	0	0	0	1.1	0	0	0	1	2	0.75
Camilo Doval rp	0	0	0.00	3	0	1	0	0	2.1	0	0	0	0	3	0.00
Max Fried sp	2	0	0.00	2	2	0	0	0	13.1	5	0	0	2	10	0.53
Brent Headrick rp	0	0	0.00	4	0	0	0	0	3.1	5	0	0	1	5	1.80
Tim Hill rp	0	0	0.00	3	0	1	0	0	3.1	1	0	0	0	3	0.30
Cam Schlittler sp	1	0	0.00	1	1	0	0	0	5.1	1	0	0	0	8	0.19
Will Warren sp	0	0	2.08	1	1	0	0	0	4.1	5	1	1	2	3	1.62
Ryan Weathers sp	0	0	2.08	1	1	0	0	0	4.1	4	1	1	2	7	1.38
Paul Blackburn rp	0	1	6.75	1	0	1	0	0	1.1	3	1	1	1	0	3.00
Name/Pos	W	L	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	WHIP

And then in April:

Name/Pos	W	L	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	WHIP
Cam Schlittler sp	3	1	1.73	6	6	0	0	0	36.1	24	9	7	6	41	0.83
Tim Hill rp	0	0	1.93	10	0	1	0	0	9.1	5	2	2	2	1	0.75
Brent Headrick rp	1	0	2.25	13	0	3	0	0	12.0	11	4	3	5	11	1.33
Will Warren sp	3	0	2.67	5	5	0	0	0	27.0	24	12	8	5	34	1.07
Max Fried sp	2	1	2.91	5	5	0	0	0	34.0	21	11	11	10	27	0.91
Ryan Weathers sp	1	2	3.38	5	5	0	0	0	29	29	11	11	6	33	1.19
Paul Blackburn rp/sp	1	0	3.72	6	0	3	0	0	9.2	11	5	4	2	7	1.34
Fernando Cruz rp	2	0	3.72	12	0	1	0	0	9.2	9	4	4	8	17	1.76
Angel Chivilli rp	0	0	3.86	2	0	1	0	0	2.1	2	1	1	3	3	2.14
Ryan Yarbrough rp	0	0	4.09	7	0	6	0	0	11.0	8	5	5	4	8	1.09
David Bednar rp	1	2	4.22	11	0	11	0	7	10.2	15	8	5	3	13	1.69
Yerry De Los Santos rp	0	0	4.50	1	0	0	0	0	2.0	3	1	1	2	1	2.50
Elmer Rodriguez sp	0	1	4.50	1	1	0	0	0	4.0	4	2	2	4	3	2.00
Luis Gil sp	1	2	6.05	4	4	0	0	0	19.1	15	13	13	11	9	1.34
Camilo Doval rp	1	0	9.00	9	0	0	0	0	8.0	10	8	8	2	8	1.50
Jake Bird rp	0	1	11.12	7	0	0	0	0	5.2	10	7	7	1	7	1.54
Name/Pos	W	L	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	WHIP

Starters

In March, the Yankees starters picked up 3 wins in the 5 starts they made. Jake Bird who didn’t give up a run in that month was the reliever who picked up a win and the one loss fell to Paul Blackburn.

Of the 5 regular starters in March and April, Cam Schlittler went 4-1 in 7 starts, Max Fried also went 4-1 in 7 starts, and then there was Will Warren with 6 starts, 3 wins and no losses.

Then there was the new guy Ryan Weathers with 6 starts and 1-2 win/loss record. He suffered from a lack of run support. Then there was Luis Gil who was very below par. He also produced 1-2 and an ERA over 6.

This shows that Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, and Max Fried were the three main men. Then Weathers achieved 40 strikeouts, compared to Cam Schlittler’s 49. He conceded 12 earned runs compared to, for example, Warren’s 9. He was more than a little unlucky. The same could not be said for Gil.

In April, just before the end of the month (29th), Elmer Rodriguez found himself called up as Gil was indeed sent to the minors. Rodriguez didn’t do great, but it showed how much Gil has lost form that he was the one to pick up the 4 innings.

Relievers

Closer, David Bednar had two saves in March and a further 7 in April. His ERA was higher than the Yankees might have hoped for – 4.22 in April – but as the permanent closer on this roster, he is doing far better than some of his predecessors.

Among the guys who were typically filling the 6th, 7th and 8th innings, Tim Hill was exceptional (0.00 ERA in March and 1.93 in April). Brent Headrick did better than the Yankees were perhaps hoping for (0.00 and 2.25).

Fernando Cruz appeared in 14 games . He was another to come through March without giving up a run. although his ERA in April (3.72) was higher than some others.

Paul Blackburn had a difficult March, but a better April with a win and a 1.34 WHIP.

Ryan Yarbrough didn’t play in March, but he appeared in 7 games in April. He was mostly used in late innings, when the Yankees were on their way to a loss.

Angel Chivilli and Yerry De Los Santos were temporary call-ups who didn’t achieve too much. Chivilli went to the injured list with a right shoulder discomfort. This is a worrying diagnosis for a 23 year-old right-handed pitcher.

And then Camilo Doval and Jake Bird. They both arrived at the trading deadline last year. Doval did reasonably last season and stuck around in the Bronx. On the other hand, Bird was extremely poor and found himself playing the rest of the season with the Yankees’ minor league outfit in Scranton. However, both did well enough to earn a place on the opening day roster. Things started well in the opening days of the season but then as April wore on, it was a case of which of the two was worst. On balance, it was perhaps Bird again with a 11.12 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP, but in truth Doval was not much better.