New York Yankees
Manager Aaron Boone‘s club enters Thursday with a 66-35 record, an MLB-best .653 winning percentage, and a 10-game lead on the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. They’re certainly sitting pretty and it looks as if another October run is in their future.
However, one potential weak spot of this roster — even considering all the injuries New York has withstood — is the starting rotation. That’s why the front office has been investigating a number of options leading up to the deadline.
Masahiro Tanaka has been mostly solid, but J.A. Happ hasn’t been as good as last year, James Paxton has been inconsistent, and the Yankees are still waiting for Luis Severino to throw a regular-season pitch. With a farm system full of talent, New York seems like a natural trade destination for most available pitchers. They just may not be as interested in MadBum anymore, regardless of his availability.
A team scout saw his recent start against the New York Mets and wasn’t overly impressed despite him allowing just one run over nine innings. Even though he’s experiencing a fair amount of success in 2019, he’s allowing an awful lot of hard contact.
Bumgarner has produced a 45.9% hard-hit rate allowed to go along with a 36.8% fly-ball rate. That hard-hit rate is on pace to be a career-worst mark, and it’s gotten worse each season since he posted a 25.8% mark in 2013.
The Yankees still appear to be interested according to Andy Martino of SNY, but MadBum isn’t viewed as highly by the organization as guys like Trevor Bauer, Marcus Stroman, or Zack Wheeler (when he’s healthy).
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