Yankees paired with AL West rivals in competition for $56 million former Cy Young winner originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The New York Yankees pitching staff is off to one of the best starts in over 100 years.
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No, seriously.
According to Katie Sharp, the Yankees are the only team since 1900 to allow fewer than five runs and strike out at least 45 batters in their first five games of a season. That’s impressive stuff.
Max Fried has yet to allow a run through his first two starts (13.1 IP), and Cam Schlittler threw 5.1 scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants in game two of the season.
Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon are on pace to return from rehabs in the next month or two, but what if the Yankees could make an upgrade at the deadline?
Yankees named top landing spot for Marlins ace
Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer named the Yankees as a top-three landing spot for Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara. This is nowhere near the first time the former Cy Young winner’s name has been connected to the Yankees, and Rymer also listed the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres as possibilities.
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“All the same, the Marlins still don’t seem especially likely to give Alcantara a shot to pitch in October,” Rymer wrote Wednesday. “And whereas he couldn’t do it right away last year, he is rounding back into his Cy Young-winning form of 2022.”
“The righty finished last year with a 3.13 ERA over his last 12 starts. He started this year with seven scoreless innings on Opening Day,” he added. “He sat in the 97 mph range with both his four-seamer and sinker, peaking at 99 mph.”
The glaring question is, where would there even be room for Alcantara in the Yankees’ rotation by August? Top pitching prospects Carlos Lagrange and Elmer Rodriguez look ready to contribute, and Clarke Schmidt could return from Tommy John Surgery rehab shortly thereafter.