The Yankees fired Larry Rothschild after eight years. Names were swirling around as to who the next pitching coach would be. On Nov. 8, the Yanks announced that 34-year old Matt Blake would fill the position. One would have to figure that there’s a lot of pressure on someone younger than some of the pitchers on his staff to begin his big league coaching career.
When Blake reported to Spring Training, the starting rotation on paper looked impressive. Gerrit Cole was signed in December to be the ace. Luis Severino was slotted into the second spot and Masahiro Tanaka third.