top of page
file.jpg
Writer's pictureSSTN Admin

Yankees Made Three Solid Additions to the 2024 Pitching Staff

Yankees Made Three Solid Additions to the 2024 Pitching Staff

By Sal Maiorana

Match 4, 2024

***

Sal Maiorana, a friend of the site, shares some of his thoughts on the Yankees.


For honest, unfiltered analysis on the New York Yankees, you can subscribe to Sal Maiorana's free Pinstripe People Newsletter at https://salmaiorana.beehiiv.com/subscribe.

***

Today what I thought I would do is write about the three new pitchers acquired in the offseason who I believe will make the 26-man roster. Hopefully this will give you a feel for who they are, what they’ve accomplished so far in the major league careers, and how they might fit into the Yankees plan this year. Let’s get to it.


Marcus Stroman

I know Stroman carries some baggage from every stop he’s had during his career, mainly because he’s an outspoken guy who isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers. But if you can get past that, and I can because all I really care about is performance, he’s been a pretty effective starting pitcher everywhere he’s been.


In parts of six seasons with the Blue Jays which encompassed 129 starts, he had a 3.76 ERA and a 1.278 WHIP (walks, hits per innings pitched); with the Mets in 2019 and 2021 (he sat out the 2020 Covid year by personal choice) he made 44 starts with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.228 WHIP; and with the Cubs in 2022 and 2023 he made 52 starts and went 3.73 with a 1.202 WHIP.


You look at those numbers and they scream consistency, so you generally know what you’re getting when he takes the ball and that’s a nice trait for someone who figures to be a No. 2 or No. 3 starter in the rotation (depending on what Carlos Rodon does this year).


Taking just his last two seasons in Chicago, among the 69 MLB starting pitchers who threw at least 250 combined innings, his 29.5 percent hard-hit rate (meaning balls that were hit 95 mph or harder) was tied for 14th-lowest which is impressive. And his 54.3 percent ground ball rate was fourth-best which is a metric the Yankees love. One of the main things they look for are pitchers who can keep the ball on the ground, especially righties pitching in Yankee Stadium with the short porch.


Stroman is a Long Island native who loved playing for the Mets, and he has made it very clear he’s thrilled to be with the Yankees.


“I don’t know if I envisioned it (growing up), but playing for the New York Yankees as an organization is like the pinnacle of the sport,” Stroman said last week. “I feel like every player when you embark on this journey to play at the highest level, I feel like everyone wants to be a Yankee at some point. It’s kind of like the world-wide phenomenon you grow up watching, even if you’re not from New York. It’s an honor. I’m very grateful and thankful to be part of this organization. It’s an honor to put the pinstripes on and I don’t take that lightly. I’m excited to get to work.”


Caleb Ferguson

The Yankees apparently were never all that interested in bringing back lefty reliever Wandy Peralta who wound up signing with the Padres. I think Ferguson is the reason why they were fine moving on from an ultra reliable pitcher who gave them 165 appearances over the past three years and pitched to a superb 2.83 ERA and 1.183 WHIP (walks, hits per innings pitched).


Ferguson should slot immediately into Peralta’s role as the go-to lefty for Aaron Boone. He came over to the Yankees from the Dodgers in a trade that sent pitchers Matt Gage and Christian Zazueta - who were never going to play for the Yankees - to Los Angeles’ farm system. Outside of Stroman and Juan Soto, Ferguson might be the best player the Yankees acquired in the offseason.


He debuted with Los Angeles in 2018 and missed the 2021 season due to Tommy John surgery. In his five seasons, he appeared in 201 games and had a 3.43 ERA and 1.288 WHIP and averaged 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings. Interestingly, he wasn’t really used in the postseason, and I don’t know why. He pitched in the first two rounds in 2018 as a rookie, but had no appearances in that World Series. He was not involved in 2019, 2020, 2021 (injury) and 2022, but finally in 2023, when the Dodgers were stunned by the Diamondbacks, he threw 2.1 hitless innings in two appearances.


Last year Ferguson set his career-high with 68 games and had a 3.43 ERA and 1.442 WHIP, with the bulk of his work coming in high leverage situations as 40 of his appearances were in games where the score differential was two runs or less. His ground ball rate has been decent at 44.6 for his career. You can figure he’s going to be a seventh- or eighth-inning setup man with the Yankees and his 95-96 mph fastball will play well. And he did have three saves last year for the Dodgers, so maybe if Clay Holmes is down, Ferguson could close.


Another thing I like about him is that his barrel percentage was 2.8 in 2023, eighth-best among 157 relievers who pitched at least 50 innings. I know this is a little too deep in the weeds, and I’m usually not all that into these Statcast numbers, but I thought it was interesting. What qualifies as a barrel for a hitter? An exit velocity of at least 98 mph and a launch angle between 26 to 30 degrees. It’s the nerds way of saying “he got all of that one” and in Ferguson’s case, it doesn’t happen very often.


Victor Gonzalez

Gonzalez is a 28-year-old left-handed reliever from Mexico who also came to the Yankees from the Dodgers in December along with shortstop prospect Jorbit Vivas in a trade that sent Yankees infield prospect Trey Sweeney to Los Angeles. The main reason for the deal was that the Dodgers had a 40-man roster crunch and needed space to add Shohei Ohtani and Joe Kelly.


Gonzalez made a dazzling debut in 2020 as he got into 15 games in that shortened Covid season and pitched to a 1.33 ERA and an incredible 0.738 WHIP. He then appeared in eight postseason games as the Dodgers ended their 32-year World Series drought and beat the Rays. Gonzalez had a 2.70 ERA in that postseason and was the winning pitcher in the Game 6 clincher against Tampa Bay when he struck out the side in the top of the sixth and LA took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth.


Since then it hasn’t been great for Gonzalez. He pitched in 44 games in 2021 to a 3.57 ERA but his WHIP doubled to 1.443, and then he missed all of 2022 due to elbow surgery. He came back last season and got back on track with a 4.01 ERA and 1.099 WHIP in 34 games. He was left off the Dodgers postseason roster in both 2021 and 2023.


Last season, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts used him in the middle innings and I think he’ll be the same one inning guy for the Yankees. He throws his fastball in the mid-90s and also has a low 90s sinker, and he’s another ground ball machine with a career percentage of 57.4. Over the last two years the Yankees bullpen led MLB in ground ball rate (50.6 percent in 2023, 49.1 in 2022) so all three of these new pitchers should fit right in.


Two important things about Gonzalez are that he has one minor league option available so if he struggles, or the Yankees need to play around with the roster, he’s eligible to be sent down to Triple-A. And if the Yankees like him, they can control him for two more low-cost arbitration seasons as he isn’t eligible for free agency until 2027.


“There’s a lot to like,” said Boone, though keeping in mind that Boone has never said anything negative about any player he has ever talked about. “He’s a guy that, in his career, pitched in some big games. His reputation is that he’s not afraid of any kind of moment or situation. I’m excited for what he’s going to bring to our team.”

16 commenti


Jeff Korell
Jeff Korell
04 mar

"Stroman is a Long Island native who loved playing for the Mets, and he has made it very clear he’s thrilled to be with the Yankees".


Well he IS thrilled to be with the Yankees, but he did not "LOVE" playing for the Mets. Stroman's departure from the Mets was sour, as he accused the front office of being racist, after he signed with the Chicago Cubs. When Stroman faced the Mets for the first time as a Cub, he pointed to the Mets dugout and pounded his chest following an inning-ending double play in the eighth. And the Mets were clearly annoyed. One anonymous Met sarcastically asked "What did we do to him?", while another said Stroman should …

Mi piace
Jeff Korell
Jeff Korell
04 mar
Risposta a

So true. If he were to leave the Yankees at some point, it would NOT be an amicable parting of the ways. He was very upset with Toronto for trading him to the Mets after he expressed his desire to be traded to the Yankees, and he trashed their clubhouse in reaction to them trading him there. And Stroman didn't hit it off with Mets fans because when Stroman opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns, some Mets fans saw it as giving up on the team (which it clearly was not), but that soured him on Mets fans, and ultimately, the Mets in general. With all of that being said, I love his potential with…

Mi piace

Jeff Korell
Jeff Korell
04 mar

Regarding Caleb Ferguson. I hope you are right and he is an effective reliever for the Yankees. The one thing that concerns me, though. The Yankees had been pursuing free agent Ryan Brasier, who the Dodgers completely turned around since they acquired him after Brasier was unceremoniously dumped by the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees lost out to the Dodgers for Brasier's services, and the Dodgers "to make room for Brasier" traded Caleb Ferguson to the Yankees. If Caleb Ferguson is a good reliever, why didn't the Dodgers just keep him for a cheaper salary, rather then spend megabucks to re-sign Brasier as a free agent, and then trade Ferguson away "to make room for Brasier". Obviously, he Dodgers …


Mi piace

Robert Malchman
Robert Malchman
04 mar

Ferguson had a 1.442 WHIP? In mostly high-leverage situations? That's . . . not good. The problem is his H/9 ratio of 9.5. Basically, he comes in and gives up a hit. I sure as heck wouldn't want him coming in with any runners on base! And indeed, 35% of his inherited runners scored last year (9 out of 26). For contrast, Wandy Peralta had only 18% of his 28 IR score.

Mi piace
Robert Malchman
Robert Malchman
04 mar
Risposta a

I agree; he should only be starting innings or coming in with no one on base. But even so, nearly one-and-a-half baserunners per inning by his own hand is not promising. That's comparable to Carlos Rodon's WHIP in his execrable 2023 season.

Mi piace

Alan B.
Alan B.
04 mar

Stroman, decent move. Getting Ferguson, another decent move. But I still don't like the Gonzalez trade for about 5 different reasons, including thinking Gonzalez was in no way worth trading for and not risk waiting to see if he was DFA to help make 40 man room that the Dodgers needed. But the Yankees so completely believe in their pitch usage and pitch grip adjustment processes they believe they got another one!

Mi piace
Alan B.
Alan B.
05 mar
Risposta a

I, and many others, both fans and media, wondered from the day he was drafted, when was Sweeney going to be moved to 3B.


The new Top 30 have started to be rolled out. Vavis is 16th. On Wednesday we'll find out where Sweeney will rank in the Dodgers system. I don't think their respective ranks will be much different. Thst only makes the trade that much more head scratching to me. It's not like the Yankees traded from a stacked position to a position that's empty. 2B is not empty. 3B in Hardman is really only a bat. There is no one behind him in any full season league.


Modificato
Mi piace
dr sem.png

Start Spreading the News is the place for some of the very best analysis and insight focusing primarily on the New York Yankees.

(Please note that we are not affiliated with the Yankees and that the news, perspectives, and ideas are entirely our own.)

blog+image+2.jpeg

Have a question for the Weekly Mailbag?

Click below or e-mail:

SSTNReaderMail@gmail.com

SSTN is proudly affiliated with Wilson Sporting Goods! Check out our press release here, and support us by using the affiliate links below:

587611.jpg
583250.jpg
Scattering the Ashes.jpeg

"Scattering The Ashes has all the feels. Paul Russell Semendinger's debut novel taps into every emotion. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll reexamine those relationships that give your life meaning." — Don Burke, writer at The New York Post

The Least Among Them.png

"This charming and meticulously researched book will remind you of baseball’s power to change and enrich lives far beyond the diamond."

—Jonathan Eig, New York Times best-selling author of Luckiest Man, Opening Day, and Ali: A Life

From Compton to the Bronx.jpg

"A young man from Compton rises to the highest levels of baseball greatness.

Considered one of the classiest baseball players ever, this is Roy White's story, but it's also the story of a unique period in baseball history when the Yankees fell from grace and regained glory and the country dealt with societal changes in many ways."

foco-yankees.png

We are excited to announce our new sponsorship with FOCO for all officially licensed goods!

FOCO Featured:
carlos rodon bobblehead foco.jpg
bottom of page