The Yankees Are Holding Down the Fort Without Gerrit Cole

Schmidt has been solid, with a 3.68 ERA and 16 strikeouts through his first three starts. Luis Gil has also been effective (if shaky) as the No. 5 starter. The 25-year-old has a 3.86 ERA in three outings, with 20 strikeouts (but 14 walks) over 14 innings.

Although the starting rotation isn’t necessarily throwing gems every day, they are putting together some solid starts as a staff. The Yankees starting rotation currently ranks sixth in the league with a 3.47 ERA over their first 19 games – something not many people saw coming after Cole’s injury.

Fans were certainly less worried about the bullpen coming into the season, but they still had their fair share of concerns. For instance, the team needed to replace arms like Michael King and Wandy Peralta.

Yet, as of April 18, Yankees relievers rank first in the league with 10 saves and fourth with a 2.62 bullpen ERA. Led by the duo of Holmes and Hamilton, the bullpen has been close to lockdown over the first month of the season.

Hamilton has been one of the best set-up relievers in baseball. The slider-heavy righty has provided some gutsy performances, going multiple innings on numerous occasions. His 23.8% strikeout percentage ranks second on the team behind Nick Burdi, and his .192 wOBA ranks in the top 8% of the league.

Holmes, the Yankees’ closer, has been very effective so far, but he’s been doing it in a way fans aren’t used to seeing from him. He has always been one of the best groundball pitchers in the league, and that remains the case in 2024. The difference this season compared to last is that he is sacrificing his strikeout numbers in order to be a more accurate pitcher.

Holmes has significantly decreased his walk percentage, down to 2.6% from 8.8% last season. Meanwhile, he is striking out opponents at nearly half the rate he was last year: 15.4% in 2024 compared to 27.1% last year. Could it just be an early-season statistical anomaly? Of course, but honestly, who cares, as long he’s still effective?

Another member of the bullpen you just have to highlight is Burdi, who had quite the start to his season before being placed on the 15-day IL with hip inflammation. With a fastball that averages 97.7 mph, he has been purely dominant out of the ‘pen. Opposing hitters have yet to figure out how to square up Burdi, as he ranks in the 99th percentile with an 81.1-mph average exit velocity.

Keep an eye on Burdi as the season progresses, because if the hard-throwing righty can come back and keep this up, expect to see him take on a much bigger role for the Yankees’ bullpen.

All that really matters to Yankee fans is that this bullpen, and the pitching staff in general, continues to exceed expectations as we await the return of the staff ace.

When you combine this explosive Yankees’ offense with a pitching staff that has held opponents to the third-fewest runs per game, the sky is the limit for the 2024 New York Yankees.