What to expect from Yankees pitching staff to begin the season

Rotation

With Gerrit Cole expected to be out until 2026, newly-signed Max Fried will be considered the captain of this ship. The 31-year-old is looking to build off of his 2024 with Atlanta, where he posted a 3.25 ERA to pair with 166 strikeouts. Fried has been consistent when on the mound, but the X factor for him will undoubtedly be if he can stay healthy enough to make at least 25 starts for the Bombers. 

Behind Fried, Carlos Rodon will be expected to play up to new levels. The 32-year-old is coming off his best year in the Bronx, pitching to a 3.96 ERA and fanning 195 batters over 32 starts. Rodon has yet to pitch up to expectations, and fans are looking at him to be a reliable No. 2 starter this season.

Marcus Stroman was the odd man out heading into spring training, being the obvious six-starter in a five-man rotation. After injuries to Cole, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt, Stroman has found himself playing a key role on the staff. The 33-year-old had a less-than-ideal first season in the Bronx, putting up a 4.31 ERA to pair with a 1.47 WHIP. Most fans expected Stroman to be traded during the offseason, but the veteran will now have another chance to earn his keep.

To fill out the last two spots in the Opening Day rotation, the Yankees had to dive deep into their bag of pitchers. 

Veteran Carlos Carrasco turned heads in Tampa, allowing only three earned runs through 16 innings pitched. The Bombers will look to ride his hot start into the beginning of the season. 

As for the fifth starter, Will Warren wasn't fantastic during his short time in the majors last year or in some of his starts during spring training, but it is clear that Warren possesses the intangibles of being a dominant starter. 

Bullpen

While the Yankees did make many important trades and signings this offseason, there's an argument that none were more significant than the trade for Williams. Considered one of the best closers in the league, the 30-year-old will be the slam-the-door closer that the Bombers have lacked for quite some time. 

Setting up Williams will be breakout reliever Luke Weaver. Toward the end of the 2024 season, Weaver emerged as the Yankees' new closer, pitching in many tough spots in both the regular season and the postseason. Having his electricity in the seventh or eighth inning to set the stage for Williams in the ninth might make them one of the deadliest back ends of the bullpen in the league.

Before both Weaver and Williams, important middle relief arms such as Tim Hill, Jonathan Loaisiga and Fernando Cruz will eat some big-time innings, especially if starters go short. 

Hill went from being dropped by the worst team in baseball to playing a pivotal role in the Yankees' World Series run, and more of the same will be expected from him this season. 

Loaisiga has been injured for the past season-and-a-half, and he will undoubtedly be called upon to pitch in some stressful moments when he returns from the IL in May. 

Lastly, the new kid on the block, Fernando Cruz, is a wild card in the Bombers' bullpen. Cruz boasts a wipe-out splitter to pair with his mid-90s fastball and may end up playing a larger role than most fans expect.

Nobody could have predicted that this is what the Yankees' pitching staff would look like to begin the season. The bullpen seems to be better than ever, but unless some of these unsung heroes in the rotation play above expectations, it may be a bumpy first half for the Bombers.