Posted by MikeT23 on 5/1/2014 7:39:00 PM (view original):
I think .750 is a big ask from him. He hardly played last season. And he's old. As a Yankee fan, I was hoping .700-720 in 120 games with decent defensive play. I don't think Dean Anna is bringing anything better in the field.
Of course, I was all gloom and doom on the Yanks to start the season so my expectations might become more if they hang around the top of the division.
On a team-wide basis, in spite of leading the division, there definitely is still room for quite a bit of improvement from the Yankees. I know you don't believe so much a lot of the sabermetric stats, and honestly, I'm not even looking them up right now. But just glancing at the true outcome numbers for Sabathia and Kuroda, they should both start seeing their ERAs drop quickly without really pitching any better than they have been. CC's been giving up home runs like it's his job, but as of right now his K rate is the best of his career, and his walk-rate is the 2nd-lowest. He's also right on his career average for line drive percentage, and has the best GO/AO ratio of his career. So it's not like those numbers suggest he's getting hit harder than normal; in fact, he's inducing more ground balls than he ever has before. So the HRs should, presumably, slow down. Honestly, the rate stats look like CC's doing some of the best pitching of his career, if not the best. But then his ERA is over 5. Doesn't add up for me.
Kuroda's K, BB, and HR rates are all right in line with what he's done the past 2 years with the Yankees. His LD% is down from last year and his GB/FB is up. So I don't see why he would sustain an ERA that's magically jumped by 2 runs, either.
If those guys both improve toward the mean and Tanaka and Pineda remain recognizable as the same guys they have been so far, and with Moore out for the season, the Yankees could easily wind up having the best rotation in the division.