PHOENIX — CC Sabathia has been on the disabled list since his best start of the season. Luis Severino pitched poorly and then joined Sabathia on the shelf. Ivan Nova took Sabathia’s spot in the rotation and has been OK. Nathan Eovaldi has been up and down and Michael Pineda has been awful.
With that backdrop Chad Green made his major league debut in the Yankees’ 12-2 loss to the Diamondbacks Monday night at Chase Field. Green allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits over just four innings.
So, there are issues smothering the Yankees’ rotation. And after Sunday’s outing, another item was added to the list: Masahiro Tanaka pitching on four days’ rest instead of five, which he and the Yankees prefer whenever it’s available.
In Sunday’s 7-5 win over the White Sox in The Bronx, Tanaka pitched for a second straight time on four days’ rest and wasn’t good. In five innings, he allowed four runs, eight hits and walked three. Against the Royals last Tuesday on four days’ rest, Tanaka allowed six runs and seven hits in seven frames.
“We have done it in the past and he has done OK,’’ manager Joe Girardi said of his ace working on four days’ rest. “It’s really hard to say. His stuff wasn’t as sharp [Sunday]. You can look at that but the schedule is what it is. If that’s the case we have to figure out a way for him to be sharp. We don’t have a six-man rotation and it’s difficult and requires a lot of moves. It’s important.’’
With Sabathia scheduled to return Friday night against the A’s in Oakland, Tanaka will start Saturday with five days off in between starts. Since Monday is dark on the schedule, Tanaka will have five days’ rest before his following start.
In three starts this season on four days’ rest, Tanaka is 1-0 with a 5.68 ERA and has allowed 21 hits in 19 innings. On five days’ rest, he is 0-0 with a 1.66 ERA in three starts and has given up 16 hits in 21 ²/₃ innings. For Tanaka’s career, he is 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA on four days’ rest and 13-7 with a 3.10 on five days’ rest. Tanaka is 1-0 with a 3.51 ERA in eight starts this season.
With so much uncertainty in the rotation, the Yankees’ lineup has responded to the need for more runs to offset the rotation woes.
Six weeks into the season it’s becoming very clear the Yankees will go where the bats and the late-inning trio of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman take them.
Even with Mark Teixeira and Chase Headley hitting .200 going into Monday night’s action and Teixeira having not homered since April 13, the lineup must be counted on to produce.
On the 10-game homestand with the Red Sox, Royals and White Sox the Yankees scored 48 runs, batted .245 (77-for-314), hit 14 homers and drove in 48 runs. While that .245 doesn’t represent a lineup feared by pitchers, it’s 10 points above the team average of .235 the Yankees took into Monday night.
“This is what we know we can do. For a while, guys have been slumping, but you can see guys turning it around,’’ second baseman Starlin Castro said following Sunday’s 7-5 win over the White Sox.
Unless Tanaka turns it around when asked to work every fourth day instead of five the uncertainty in the Yankees’ rotation will remain and put further pressure on the lineup.
