Mandatory Photo Credit: ©Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports / ©Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / ©Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
NEW YORK — The Yankees are in dire need of a starting pitcher. Luckily there are plenty of names still available on the market.
And according to New York Post’s Jon Heyman, the Yankees have interest in adding an arm amid the Gerrit Cole news. The team announced on Wednesday that their ace will miss at least 6-8 weeks with an elbow injury.
While initial scans did not show a tear in Cole’s ulnar collateral ligament, he is still seeing a specialist in person.
“We’re still in the gathering-of-information [phase] and then everyone’s got to weigh in to determine what exactly we have,” manager Aaron Boone said. “… It’s not always clear on first look, second look.”
But knowing the Bombers’ luck – Cole will end up missing the entire year. So it’s vital that the team adds a stating pitcher.
Maybe the 2023 NL Cy-Young Award winner, Blake Snell? Or Jordan Montgomery, the southpaw, who played an integral part in the Texas Rangers World Series run last year?
Nope. Guess again.
The Yankees have expressed interest in free-agent pitcher Michael Lorenzen.
The right-hander split the 2023 campaign with the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies and made the first All-Star Game of his career. However, he was much more effective in Detroit (3.58 ERA) than Philadelphia (5.51 ERA). He did not make the Phillies postseason roster – but threw a no-hitter in his home debut for Philadelphia.
The benefit of adding Lorenzen would be that he also has experience pitching out of the bullpen, so he could slide to a multi-inning relief role when Cole returns.
New York currently has Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman, Nestor Cortes, and Clarke Schmidt in their rotation. If they fail to add any outside talent, they would likely fill the final spot in their rotation with one of Luis Gil, Will Warren, or Clayton Beeter.
