Yankees' Aaron Boone: Why we don't need to boost rotation yet

by Felix Pantaleón

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the team doesn’t need to add to its starting rotation yet despite terrible recent results.

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NEW YORK — Yankees manager Aaron Boone preferred to look in the rear view than at what had just happened.

Not long ago, the Yankees were getting strong outings from their starting rotation. It was what helped fuel a streak of 17 wins in 18 games and a sprint back to the top of the American League East.

Now? The rotation — outside of Luis Severino — is struggling big-time, Sonny Gray‘s latest stinker a catalyst in their 11-4 loss to the Angels at Yankee Stadium on Saturday night.

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Gray coughed up five earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. “The stuff was good. The results weren’t,” he said.

His ERA ballooned to 5.98 — the worst among Yankees starters with more than three starts. It’s a full run ahead of Masahiro Tananka, who has an also-terrible 4.95 ERA. And CC Sabathia, who started out so well this season (2-0, 1.39 ERA, six starts), has watched his ERA jump more than two full runs (3.55) in his last three starts.

Only Severino (7-1, 2.28 ERA, 11 starts) has provided Boone any consistency.

The Yankees’ 4.07 rotation ERA is 13th-best in the league.

Still, Boone was asked if he believes the Yankees must bolster their rotation.

Nope, Boone said. Or not yet, anyway.

“We definitely need to start getting a little bit more length out of those guys and I think just like they did when we got it rolling — a lot of the talk was about our offense and guys doing well, but when we got rolling really good against a lot of quality teams, it was really on the backs of the starting pitching,” he said.

“They were consistently giving us quality outings and we’ve hit a little bump in the road here this last time-and-a-half through or so but no reason for me to think they won’t turn it around and get that rolling again. That’s the key to everything — if we can get our pitchers to consistently get us to that sixth inning and whatever beyond, then our bullpen obviously sets up and we feel like our offense can take it from there. I believe they’ll turn it around and get rolling again.”