The collapse of the Yankees offense in 2016 came as much less of a surprise than the mediocre performance of their starting pitching this year. The offense largely revolved around three aging sluggers who had miraculously healthy and productive seasons the year before, along two brittle table-setters who look to be right on the edge of a precipitous decline.
The rotation, on the other hand, appeared to me to be full of promise. All five of the team’s starters had under-performed their “true talent” in my estimation in 2015 and several of them looked like breakout candidates.
Instead, the Yankees have gotten through the year with only one truly reliable above-average starter.