Brian Cashman isn’t the only one who thinks the Yankees had enough starting pitching to win it all this season.
The general manager, who will have to decide how hard to pursue free agent Gerrit Cole this winter, noted during his season-ending press conference on Thursday: “Pitching is not what cost us that series with the Astros, at least in my opinion,’’ Cashman said. “I felt that our hitting with runners in scoring positions is what sent us home.”
Manager Aaron Boone said he didn’t think they needed an additional ace to win a championship next year.
His starters agreed, but also know changes could be coming.
James Paxton, having just finished his first season in The Bronx, already knows the rotation may be upgraded this offseason.
“I feel really good about the guys we have,’’ said Paxton, one of several Yankees who cleaned out their lockers at the Stadium this week.
“I’m sure they’re gonna go out and look to improve like they always do,’’ Paxton said of potential moves. “We have a great group here, and we can definitely get it done.”
It was a rotation that was down to Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino in the postseason — the Yankees shifted J.A. Happ to the bullpen, as well as CC Sabathia, before Sabathia went down with a shoulder injury.
Their pitching got them to a tie game in the bottom of the ninth in Game 6, when Aroldis Chapman gave up the series-clinching homer to Jose Altuve.
They had Cole waiting for them if they’d managed to complete their comeback last Saturday in Houston to force a Game 7.
Still, Severino liked their chances if they’d gotten that far — and he got the start.
“I wanted that chance,’’ Severino said. “When [DJ] LeMahieu hit that home run [in the ninth inning of Game 6], I was like, ‘We got it tomorrow.’ If we win that game, we put pressure on the Astros, and I was going to get on mound and try to win that game for us.’’
But that opportunity never came, as LeMahieu’s game-tying homer off Roberto Osuna was topped by Altuve’s game-winning blast that ended the Yankees’ season.
Despite the disappointment surrounding their playoff ouster, much of the starting rotation was left confident that they had enough talent and depth to get to, and win, a World Series.
“If you saw what happened this year, we almost got there and we lost [Domingo] German,’’ Severino said of the right-hander who missed the postseason — and will almost certainly miss part of next year — following domestic abuse allegations that led MLB to place him on administrative leave.
Happ pitched two scoreless innings in the Game 6 loss, when the Yankees opened with Chad Green instead of going with Happ as a traditional starter.
“I want the opportunity to start, always, but that was clearly the decision they wanted to go: to utilize a large strength of ours, which is the bullpen,’’ Happ said. “And if you look at it, we actually pitched well.’’
In the five games the Yankees used a regular starter in the ALCS, those starters had a 2.28 ERA. They didn’t get much length — both Paxton and Severino having short outings, while Green flopped as the opener, when he allowed three runs in the first inning of Game 6.
And though he accepted his role in the bullpen during the playoffs, Happ doesn’t intend to stay there.
“I’m coming in next year to start,’’ the left-hander said. “That’s what I’m more used to. But in the postseason, you do whatever it takes. I didn’t have an ego about.’’
The short outings by Yankees’ starters throughout the regular season — due in part to Severino’s arm injuries that kept him out much of the year — undoubtedly took a toll on the relievers in the playoffs.
“I definitely feel we can get it done,’’ Happ said. “A lot of it is contingent on health. I’d really like to see what [Severino] can do when he’s healthy for a full season. That would be a big difference for us. And I think a lot of us can make improvements on what we did this year, myself included. I think we will.”
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