Kuzul

The New York Yankees are doing this right with Luis Severino, trying to lessen the pressure on him to be great right away, even if that pressure is his reality. They’re doing this right, even if there is an argument to be made that the 22-year-old will be their best starting pitcher.

Severino didn’t start Tuesday’s Opening Day game against the Houston Astros and Dallas Keuchel, just as he didn’t start the Yankees’ lone 2015 playoff game against the Astros and Keuchel. Masahiro Tanaka started Tuesday, just as he did last October, and the Yankees lost, just as they did then.

If you want to say Severino could have done better, well, perhaps he could have. The Yankees won six of his final eight starts last year, when Severino was so impressive and so steady that it seemed impossible he was only 21 years old.

He’s 22 now, on a big league Opening Day roster for the first time. And even if the Yankees handed him a rotation spot behind Tanaka, Michael Pineda and Nathan Eovaldi, they certainly know he can be better than that.

They need him to be better than that if they’re going to compete for a championship.

Young players rule Major League Baseball these days, and you only need to look at the New York Mets to be reminded that young pitchers can bring a team to the top, too. The Yankees may not have a rotation full of them, but they do have Severino.

“A real live arm,” said one scout who followed the Yankees this spring. “Obviously, they need him.”

They need him. They need the other guys, too. They need Tanaka to overcome any concerns about his right elbow. They need Pineda to finally stay healthy. They need Eovaldi to prove last year’s strong stretch was real. They need CC Sabathia not to look old.

It’s not fair to say Severino is the one potential difference-maker, because Pineda can be brilliant and Eovaldi can throw 100 mph. Even Tanaka still shows a few flashes of the guy who the Yankees signed for $155 million.

But as one veteran scout told the New York Post‘s Kevin Kernan, Severino is “the best starter on the staff.”

Kernan suggested it should have been Severino starting on Opening Day, but really, there was no need for that. There’s enough pressure on him already and enough uncertainty about the speed of his development.

“It takes time,” said the scout who watched the Yankees in the spring. “I’m sure some people will project Severino to be that guy right now, but I don’t like to say that. He’s got stuff, but he’s got to command his fastball, and that takes time.”

The Yankees can give Severino that time even while starting him every fifth day in the big leagues. They don’t need to call him the ace just yet. The Chicago Cubs didn’t call Jake Arrieta their ace when the 2015 season began.

If starting the fourth game of the season rather than the first takes some pressure off Severino, all the better. There will be enough pressure just from pitching in New York. There’ll be even more if Tanaka‘s fastball isn’t any more impressive than it looked Tuesday, and more if Pineda once again breaks down or Eovaldi once again shows how many hits you can give up while throwing 100 mph.

Last August and September, Severino looked like a guy who can handle the pressure. He embraced New York and the atmosphere that comes with pitching for the Yankees. But he also enjoyed overwhelming success, and the tougher parts of development can come with the inevitable failures.

Maybe Severino is ready for that. Maybe he’s ready to be the ace right now.

If he is, he’ll show it. If he is, we’ll see it.

The Yankees may well need it to happen, but they can’t force it to happen.

But they sure would be a much better team if it does.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

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Warning: Video contains NSFW language.

Come Tuesday, fans won’t be gaining entry to Yankee Stadium’s Opening Day with print-at-home tickets. 

Some fans, however, will get to see the New York Yankees face the Houston Astros from behind home plate on the dime of Last Week Tonight‘s John Oliver—under one condition.

The comedian is offering a total of six Legends Suite tickets to the three Yankees home games this week for 25 cents each to people who can conjure up the most creative, original and presumably eye-catching method of dressing as if they “have never sat in a premium location before.” 

Oliver’s incitement for ticket magnanimity stems from a recent statement by Yankees COO Lonn Trost, who by Oliver’s interpretation, essentially said, “Rich people couldn’t bear to sit next to people who aren’t as rich.”

So, in an effort to wear that thin tolerance down even further, the host is helping some “riffraff” get their chance to mingle.

With so many likely vying for the opportunity, it’s doubtful they’ll be tame.

Yankee Stadium camera operators, you know where to look. 

Update: Tuesday, April 5

When the Yankees’ opener was played on Tuesday (after being postponed on Monday), viewers may have noticed a couple of fans sitting behind home plate dressed up in some interesting outfits:

You can thank Oliver for that.

[CBS Sports]

–End of Update–

[YouTube]

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After a playoff appearance last season, optimism is high for the New York Yankees heading into 2016. They start the year with a Wild Card Game rematch against reigning American League Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel and the Houston Astros. 

Originally slated for Monday, the Yankees announced the game will now take place on Tuesday.

Last year was a positive step for the Yankees, though it was not the huge leap forward fans in New York are accustomed to with this franchise. The Yankees won 84-87 games each of the last three years, opting to ride things out with their old talent and slowly working prospects into the mix. 

Bringing up the younger guys occurred out of necessity. If Mark Teixeira was capable of playing 140-150 games, Greg Bird likely would have spent all of last season in Triple-A.

The Yankees are a team in transition, but because they don’t go through full rebuilding periods, they are still piecing together a 25-man roster capable of competing in a loaded American League East with teams like the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox. 

For instance, instead of trying to spend on one of the big free-agent starters available, the Yankees looked at the template set by the Kansas City Royals and built as good of a trio in the back of the bullpen as there is with Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman.

Chapman is suspended for the first 30 games of the regular season under MLB‘s domestic violence policy, but the Yankees can survive his absence because of Miller and Betances. 

Beyond acquiring Chapman and Starlin Castro, this was a quiet offseason in the Bronx. It’s the right tactic for a team that is going to clear a lot of money in the next two years, but will it lead to another playoff appearance?

Here are the biggest questions and predictions for the Yankees in 2016. 

What Does the Rotation Offer?

Looking at the Yankees’ starting rotation last year, it’s a wonder this team managed to win 87 games. The Yankees didn’t have one starter make 30 starts or reach 170 innings. Masahiro Tanaka, who will start on Opening Day, was the only starter to make at least 20 starts and post an ERA under 4.00. 

CC Sabathia, who missed last year’s playoff game against Houston to enter alcohol rehab, is back. He’s 35 years old and doesn’t have much giddy-up on the fastball anymore, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch:

Sabathia’s ability to pitch and hit his spots will help him survive, but expecting him to be any more than a back-end starter at this point isn’t realistic. 

Tanaka has tremendous potential, as evidenced by his 280 strikeouts in 290.1 innings, but he’s got to show that he can make 30-plus starts in a season to become the No. 1 starter New York so desperately needs. 

Luis Severino had an excellent 2.89 ERA in 11 starts last year, though he also allowed nine home runs and 22 walks in 62.1 innings.

The 22-year-old Severino certainly has the confidence needed to step up based on these comments to YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits (via Brendan Kuty of NJ.com) in January: “Of course [I can be New York’s ace].”

That kind of confidence is necessary for any pitcher to succeed, but Severino has a lot of work left to do before approaching those lofty heights. 

Because the Yankees have built such a deep bullpen, they can get away with having starters throw five innings more often than not. Eventually, though, those starts will have to get longer or else the relievers will be worn out by the time October rolls around. 

What Will the Lineup Look Like?

One reason the Yankees succeeded last year despite all the pitching woes is because they scored 764 runs, second only to the Blue Jays in MLB. 

As the season moved on, though, the Yankees’ age started catching up to them. They limped into the postseason offensively, finishing 17th in runs scored during September, and manager Joe Girardi constantly had to shuffle things considering the number of games lost due to injuries. 

Injuries hit the Yankees hard even before spring training started, with Bird undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery in February. He would have played a huge role in New York this season after impressing with a .529 slugging percentage and 11 homers in 46 games last year.

In fairness to Brian McCann, he didn’t spend time on the disabled list in 2015. He’s a catcher and requires more days off than the average position player, particularly now that he’s on the wrong side of 30. 

Jacoby Ellsbury has been frail throughout his career, only playing more than 140 games four times in nine seasons. His numbers have dropped off in two years with New York, posting a career-low .663 OPS (min. 100 games) last year. 

Teixeira can’t be counted on for more than 120 games at this point in his career. He’s missed 276 games since 2012 and is going to turn 36 on April 11. Alex Rodriguez was a pleasant surprise in 2015, posting his highest home run total (33) since 2008 and OPS+ (131) since 2009. 

After the All-Star break, however, Rodriguez looked like a 40-year-old. He hit .216/.324/.448 in 69 games during the second half, so his tank is zeroing in on “E” heading into 2016. 

Castro gets a chance to reinvent himself after a disappointing 2015 with the Chicago Cubs. The 26-year-old thinks he’s found an answer to his early-season offensive woes last year, per Kuty:

The Dominican Republic-born infielder had gone from an open stances to one that was closed, allowing him, he said, to drive the ball with more consistency to right-center field.

The hardest part of that? Castro told NJ Advance Media it’s been not crossing his front leg with his back leg, essentially overcompensating for his old stance.

When Castro hit with an open stance, he would bring his front left foot from the left side of the box and make it parallel with his back foot. With his new stance, he tries to keep his feet parallel at all times.

Castro did turn things around last year, hitting .295/.319/.464 in 65 games after the All-Star break. He’s not the kind of hitter who can carry the middle of a lineup because he swings at everything, but if he can duplicate that 2015 second-half slash line as a No. 6 hitter, the Yankees will be thrilled. 

Reinforcements are coming with outfielder Aaron Judge and catcher Gary Sanchez likely to get called up at some point during the season, but there’s only so much those rookies can do surrounded by a nucleus that is old and doesn’t appear to be cut out for a six-month grind. 

Prediction

Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projections have the Yankees finishing fourth in the American League East with a respectable 84-78 record. That’s right in range with where they have been the past three years, though it also seems optimistic. 

I mentioned the Yankees trying to follow Kansas City’s blueprint to success with a dominant bullpen, but they are missing two key ingredients to that formula: speed and defense. 

It’s easy to get hung up on Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera throwing smoke at the end of games, but none of that would work if the Royals didn’t have the AL’s best defense and an opportunistic offense that doesn’t strike out.  

The Yankees finished last year 27th in defensive runs saved, a figure that’s not likely to get better with Castro at second base and outfielders like Ellsbury and Brett Gardner losing a step. 

Starting pitching remains a huge concern for the Yankees, who waited until the last minute before announcing an Opening Day starter simply because they didn’t know what Tanaka was going to look like. Their bullpen will be among the most dominant in MLB when Chapman returns from suspension. 

Miller did give Yankees fans cause for concern when he took a liner off his right (non-throwing) wrist, but he will pitch through the broken bone this season after getting cleared by a doctor.

There won’t be a complete drop-off because the Yankees still have quality talent, but it’s going to be a chore finishing around .500 in 2016. 

2016 record: 80-82

Stats per Baseball-Reference.com, FanGraphs and ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.

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For the second straight year, the New York Yankees will call upon Masahiro Tanaka to be their Opening Day starter.  

On Thursday, Yankees manager Joe Girardi announced the news in an interview with YES Network (via Wallace Matthews of ESPN.com). Tanaka will take the mound for the Yankees in their season opener on Monday at Yankee Stadium against reigning American League Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel and the Houston Astros.

“I kind of wanted the first four guys to know when their days were and we just went ahead with it,” said Girardi, per YES Network (via Matthews). “[Tanaka] feels good. He’s confident that he’s ready to go.”

The decision by Girardi to go with Tanaka means the Yankees-Astros matchup will be a rematch of last year’s AL Wild Card Game. Keuchel and the Astros shut out the Bronx Bombers, 3-0, at Yankee Stadium to move on to the AL Division Series.

An All-Star in 2014, Tanaka opened the Yankees’ season last year with a 6-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. He went only four innings, gave up four earned runs and a home run. Tanaka went on to win seven of his next 11 starts after that.

However, the 27-year-old has had a struggling spring so far, going 1-1 in four starts with a 7.36 ERA after undergoing surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow, per Matthews.

“We weren’t exactly sure where he was going to be when he got here and how he was going to react to the surgery, and if he was going to maybe need one more start,” Girardi said, via Matthews. “That was something that we looked at too, do you give him one more start? But we just felt that he was ready to go.”

Tanaka struggled slightly last year, going 12-7 with a 3.51 ERA as the Yankees’ ace. New York’s success in 2016, despite the recent acquisitions of shortstop Starlin Castro and closer Aroldis Chapman, will rest on its starting rotation.

The Yankees will rely on Tanaka to have a strong start to 2015, but they will need success from Nathan Eovaldi (14-3 last year) and Michael Pineda (12-10) if a trip back to the postseason is in their plans.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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The New York Yankees‘ bullpen has suffered another setback as Bryan Mitchell is expected to miss at least three months due to a toe injury.  

Continue for updates.

Mitchell Out Until Midseason Due to Toe Ailment

Thursday, March 31

Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Mitchell has a fractured toe on his left foot, but it’s unclear whether surgery will be necessary. Jack Curry of the YES Network stated it’s a “Grade 3 turf toe,” which will require a minimum of 12 weeks to recover.

Word of the setback comes just days after Mitchell was informed he earned a spot on the 25-man roster for Opening Day. Ryan Hatch of NJ Advance Media passed along comments from the right-handed reliever after he first suffered the injury Wednesday: “I honestly don’t know what to feel right now. I’m just trying to stay positive and hopefully when I wake up tomorrow it feels 10 times better than it does. Just trying to stay positive right now.”

The bullpen was expected to become a major part of the Yankees’ success coming into spring training. Now, it’s suddenly become a question mark with the regular-season opener scheduled for Monday afternoon against the Houston Astros.

Projected closer Aroldis Chapman was suspended 30 games under the league’s new domestic violence policy. Andrew Miller, who was expected to fill the closer void for the time being, also faces an uncertain status due to a wrist injury, per Mark Townsend of Yahoo Sports.

Mitchell had shined during spring training with a 0.57 ERA across six appearances with 12 strikeouts in 15.2 innings. He also posted a 0.64 WHIP, and his batting-average against was just .132.

That success, combined with the suddenly unstable New York bullpen, made him a candidate to pitch some high-leverage innings early in the campaign. That seemed like a long shot at the start of camp after he finished last season with a 6.37 ERA in 20 games.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post noted the injury is a double whammy for the organization:

Looking ahead, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported Miller hopes to pitch through the pain despite the injury to his non-pitching hand, but the Yanks are awaiting details form a hand specialist. If he’s unavailable, Dellin Betances will be the last member of the team’s star pen trio left standing.

Chasen Shreve, Johnny Barbato and Kirby Yates are among the other relievers who will need to step up while the Yankees wait for Chapman, Miller and Mitchell to assume their expected roles.

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The New York Yankees bullpen had a biblical feel to it at the start of spring training. We knew it was general manager Brian Cashman’s creation, but it seemed as if a higher power put it together.

In reality, it was a serious off-field problem and a failed trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers that allowed the Yankees and Cashman to pull off an offseason trade that brought flame-throwing left-handed closer Aroldis Chapman to the Bronx. He joined Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances to form a three-headed monster that had the potential to be one of the best relief trios baseball has seen.

They looked unhittable on paper. Now, less than a week away from Opening Day, the Yankees bullpen just looks paper-thin.

First, Major League Baseball suspended Chapman, set to be the team’s closer, for 30 games after an alleged domestic violence incident. Then on Wednesday, the team announced that after throwing only one pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning of a game against the Atlanta Braves at Disney World, Miller suffered a chip fracture in his right non-throwing wrist when a line drive hit him.

Let’s call the Chapman suspension the result of his own alleged behavior. What happened to Miller was daggone bad luck.

The Yankees stated, per Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, that there was no timetable for Miller’s return and that he would see a hand specialist to “determine the next course of action.”

It’s so unlikely that he’ll be ready for Opening Day that I’ll let Miller drill me with a fastball if I’m wrong. But Superman couldn’t heal from a wrist fracture in less than a week. And clearly after suffering the injury, Miller doesn’t have superhuman strength.

Until then the bullpen is left without a closer. Betances is a career setup guy. Nine of his 10 career saves came last season. With New York’s bullpen at full strength, the plan was for Betances to be a seventh- or eighth-inning guy.

Having both Miller, who had 36 saves last year as the Yankees closer, and Chapman, who has eclipsed 30 saves the past four seasons, had a dual purpose.

Primarily it would have allowed the Yankees to throw a closer at opponents for six outs. Miller, who would finish games on nearly every other major league team, would pitch the eighth inning. Chapman would close. And on days when Chapman needed rest, Miller could close. Or one could fill in should the other become hurt.

Or in Chapman’s case, suspended.

One line drive decimated that plan.

Even after Miller’s injury, though, there’s still evidence that the baseball higher-ups love pinstripes. Any day of the week, the left-handed Miller would prefer an injury occur on his right side.

With his right wrist in a cast, Miller will still be able to work his pitching arm in some capacity. To what degree won’t be understood until more information is released.

Other than that, Wednesday’s news did nothing to reassure the Yankees.

“Anytime you get a line drive, right away I don’t think it’s going to feel good,” Betances said, per Feinsand. “I’m sure right away you’re going to think everything is bad, but when he was in here talking to me, he was all right.”

Until Miller or Chapman returns, whichever comes first, insurance runs will be important to the Yankees.

The less experienced Chasen Shreve will become the team’s left-handed specialist. With Miller out, expect Luis Cessa, Johnny Barbato and Kirby Yates to all make the Opening Day roster.

All three have little major league experience. Yates has pitched parts of the last two seasons in Tampa Bay but has only one save. He posted a 7.97 ERA in 20 games in 2015.

Prior to Miller’s injury, the three pitchers were competing for two remaining bullpen spots. But neither of the three figured to pitch in the high-leverage situations reserved for Betances, Miller and Chapman.

Given that the remaining Yankees relievers are baseball neophytes, Betances is the only choice to close for now.

The good news: Of the 30 games that Chapman will miss to start the season, only nine come against teams that made the playoffs last season.

The Yankees’ bad luck is coming at a good time in their schedule.

With Miller’s injury, though, it’s as if New York had awoken from a dream. Its bullpen was the envy of every executive in baseball.

When the pieces are healthy, it is among baseball’s best. It might even push to be one of the best ever. Chapman and Miller had 69 combined saves in 2015, and Betances is regarded as one of the game’s elite setup men. Both Chapman and Betances have fastballs that have clocked in at over 100 miles per hour.

But for at least the duration of Miller’s recovery, the Yankees relievers might look ordinary if they don’t struggle altogether.

So as New York awaits a timetable on Miller’s return, this bullpen may just want to ask for a little more help from above.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @SethGruen.

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The New York Yankees‘ Alex Rodriguez enters the 2016 season with 687 home runs, putting him just 27 homers behind Babe Ruth.

Does A-Rod have what it takes to pass the Babe this season? Where would that put him among the all-time greats?

Watch Scott Miller break down A-Rod’s chances of passing Ruth on the all-time home run list this season.

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New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez‘s Major League Baseball career will likely come to an end after the 2017 season.

Speaking to ESPN.com’s Andrew Marchand on Wednesday, Rodriguez said: “I won’t play after next year. I’ve really enjoyed my time. For me, it is time for me to go home and be dad.”

Although shortly after that he clarified his remarks to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News: “I’m thinking in terms of my contract which ends in 2017. After that, we’ll see what happens. I’ve got two years and more than 300 games to play.”

The timing of Rodriguez’s possible retirement is not entirely a surprise, as his 10-year contract expires after the 2017 season. He will be 42 years old at that time.

Even though A-Rod’s career has come to be defined by his postseason shortcomings and performance-enhancing-drug use, he has started to rebuild his image. The first step was a successful 2015 season with a .250/.356/.486 slash line and 33 home runs, his most in a season since 2008, after missing the entire 2014 season due to a suspension.

Rodriguez also had a fine transition to the broadcast booth as part of Fox’s television coverage for the postseason after the Yankees lost to the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card Game.

While few will ever agree on Rodriguez’s ultimate place in baseball history, there’s no denying he was among MLB‘s greatest players during his peak. He’s hit 687 home runs, the fourth-most in MLB history, won three AL MVP awards and won the 2009 World Series with the Yankees.

It seems unlikely Rodriguez will end his career as MLB’s all-time home run leader, assuming he does retire after the 2017 season. ESPN Stats & Info showed what he would have to do to get there if he plays just two more seasons:

If Rodriguez climbs within, say, 15-20 homers of Bonds’ record after the 2017 season, he may find incentive to continue his career. 

Cynicism about Rodriguez’s announcement emerged on Twitter immediately after the news broke, as Josh Newman of the Asbury Park Press displayed:

It is certainly unusual for a player to announce his potential retirement two years in advance. Derek Jeter and David Ortiz made their respective announcements one season before they walked away, but Rodriguez has always been a little different.

There will be ample time to debate Rodriguez’s place in MLB history. This is a time to let it sink in that one of the sport’s great talents plans to leave on his own terms, if that’s indeed what A-Rod is doing. He’s earned that right, and the farewell tour would be fun to watch.

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Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Alex Rodriguez has a new lady in his life.

Typical? Perhaps.

What isn’t, however, is the woman in question.

According to Emily Smith of Page Six, the New York Yankees superstar is currently dating Anne Wojcicki, a Yale graduate and co-founder and CEO of 23andMe, a genetic research firm. She’s also the ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

But No. 13 isn’t intimidated by her mind, status or fortune (somewhere in the neighborhood of billions of dollars). In fact, a source told Smith that A-Rod has described her as “interesting, inspirational and very smart.”

He supported Wojcicki during her appearance at a satellite event for the Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting, dined with her in Tampa, Florida, during a spring training trip and the pair was even spotted together at Graydon Carter’s pre-Super Bowl party. 

Despite already drawing some attention, Smith’s source described the couple as “very new,” saying they’ve been on “a few dates.” 

Could this be the start of something big? An evolution in A-Rod? 

One thing is for certain: Rodriguez’s 40s—and the maturity, responsibility and settling-down sentiments entailed—have finally kicked in.

[Page Six]

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Nathan Eovaldi was just one inning into his second start of spring training, but New York Yankees television analyst John Flaherty was impressed.

“He looks locked in already,” Flaherty said on the YES broadcast Wednesday night.

An inning later, Flaherty was bemoaning Eovaldi’s high pitch count, which would force him from the game after just two innings of his scheduled three.

“He needs to work on that, to get to the next level,” Flaherty said.

This is the year he can get there. He can do it with the 100 mph fastball and the splitter he used so effectively last year, and the slider he has worked to improve this spring. But it’s going to take more than that.

As one veteran scout said after watching Eovaldi this spring, “He’s always had the stuff.”

He had it back when he was growing up in Alvin, Texas—yes, Nolan Ryan’s hometown. He had it when he was a 21-year-old kid with the Los Angeles Dodgers and even when he was giving up the most hits in the National League as a 24-year-old with the Miami Marlins.

He certainly had it last year, when his 96.6 mph average on his fastball was the best of any regular major league starter, according to FanGraphs.com.

He has it already this spring, hitting 99 mph on the YES radar gun his first time out.

The stuff isn’t the issue, just as it never was with the Cubs‘ Jake Arrieta. But even if he didn’t reach the depths Arrieta did with the Baltimore Orioles, Eovaldi has also been a guy who leaves you thinking he can do more.

This is the year he can do it, with the confidence acquired in a strong stretch of 12 starts last year (he went 8-0 with a 2.93 ERA and a .584 opponents’ OPS from June 20 to August 24).

The elbow problem that ended his 2015 season in early September appears to have gone away. Any concern over the dangers of being nine years out from his high school Tommy John surgery may be fading away, too.

A couple of years back, doctors suggested that replacement elbow ligaments might have a shelf life of seven to 10 years, which would have put Eovaldi and some other current major league pitchers in serious danger of needing a second Tommy John procedure. More recent research, though, suggests that’s not true.

According to Dr. Glenn Fleisig, the research director for the American Sports Medicine Institute, pitchers who make it back successfully from Tommy John surgery are at no greater risk of needing a second surgery than pitchers who never had Tommy John at all. Their careers should be as long as they would have been if they hadn’t needed the surgery.

As a pitcher who just turned 26 last month, Eovaldi has every chance at a long career. He has every chance at a good career.

And some chance of a great one.

The scouts who watch him continue to have some doubts.

“I still feel he would be better in a 2-3 role rather than as a No. 1 [starter],” one scout said. “Less pressure.”

The Yankees don’t necessarily need Eovaldi to be a No. 1, but they do need him to be dependable. Right now, he’s typical of their rotation—plenty of promise but also reasons for caution.

He still hasn’t pitched 200 innings in a major league season, although he fell only one out shy of the milestone in 2014. He still has those starts where he throws 100 pitches in just five innings. For all the velocity and even with the improved split, he has just one double-digit strikeout game in 106 major league starts (none last year). He still gives up a surprising number of hits (175 in 154.1 innings last year).

For what it’s worth, Eovaldi hasn’t allowed a hit in his four innings so far this spring. Even with the elevated pitch count that forced him out of his second start, he has looked locked in.

There’s no reason he can’t stay there.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

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