Ever since the beginning of the year, we heard about how NY needs a starting pitcher. When JMont went down, it became ever more deafening. That being said, a supposed weakness is actually a strength.
Our rotation, even with 2 rookies in there and a struggling Sonny Gray, is fourth in starters ERA in the AL. We’re only 0.06 away from the “vaunted” Sox rotation. Our June ERA as a staff is far and away the #1 in the AL. Our team ERA for June is 2.35, with the second lowest being Cleveland at 3.10. While an addition on the starting front seems logical when looking at the cast of character, the numbers don’t bear it out.
Now, we aren’t without our warts, but I’m not sure the warts we have will be fixed by any trades. We’re 17-8 in June. We’ve got the best ERA in the AL in June, and it ain’t close. But our hitting has fallen off. We’re only 9th in the AL in scoring. There’s not much we can do to upgrade that except maybe upgrade over Bird. Our 1b spot has been a graveyard beyond a hot month from Austin. Maybe that’s where we look?
So for trade targets, the sexy idea is to get DeGrom or Thor, but I am not sure either will be able to fix what ails is. We need our offense to start pitching up the slack. Tanaka should be back soon. But we will see which way Cash goes. He’s stated that the pitching market is where he’s looking. I’m sure we’ll get someone