Sizing up the Yankees rotation in ability and durability

The top five Yankees starters, clockwise from top left: Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Luis Severino, Nathan Eovaldi, Michael PinedaThe Yankees did the near impossible last year – they reached the playoffs without a single starting pitcher combining durability and excellence.

No Yankees starter reached the relatively low bar of both having qualified for the ERA title and having posted an average or better ERA once adjusted for ballparks and leagues.

In the 21 seasons of the wild-card era (since 1995), only the 2015 Yankees reached the playoffs without at least one such starter, though three (the 1996 Mariners, 1998 Giants and 1999 A’s) would have if there were two wild cards per league in…