Another Lefty Is In The Mix

  The New York Yankees have a lot of things going for them this spring; with injured players making their way back, youngster showcasing their abilities and acquired pieces finding their way into the mix. This is a team that is always looking to keep their depth in tack, and with that being said, targeting the best players for each position is the ultimate goal that in turn will help the organization win another championship. 

  As a baseball writer and baseball fan, I know that a team needs to be a well oiled machine to make a strong push towards October for a World Series opportunities. Like any other sport, baseball needs to have every players' contributions to win games. Although that may be the case, despite what the overall narrative dictates, I believe a baseball game is solely won by having good pitching on the mound.

  You can agree or disagree with me, but I stand by belief that pitching wins games.

  Now before you go into the comment section and start attacking my stance, hear me out and don't reply until you read my entire article.

  The way I see it, pitchers set the tone of the baseball games they pitch in. If a pitcher is out on the mound and throwing his A+ stuff from his pitching arsenal, then then offense will have a tough game in the batter's box and the pitcher's defensive will not have to worry much about tracking down the baseball to make tough plays. Now, if a pitcher is not having a great game, the offense can take advantage and give the defense a lot of work.

  Case and point, pitching has got to be the dividing line between the opposition and the winning column in the record books.

  Going into this year's spring training, the Yankees have to look at all the pitching options they have at their finger tips. The team still have some tough decision when it comes to filling the voids within their pitching roster. In the last few weeks the Yanks have been looking at key young arms that could possibly be penciled into the starting rotation. While Deivi Garcia, Jonathan Loaisiga and Domingo German are still awaiting news on who will round on the starting rotation, let's take a look at the latest non-roster invite the front office has decided to bring into their spring training camp.

  While the Yankees are known to be a very right handed heavy team on both the offensive and defensive side of the baseball, Brian Cashman and the Yankee organization have done their due diligence to acquire left-handed depth to balance out the team for a few years now. Just to give you a few names, you got left handed balance coming from guys like Brett Gardner, Tyer Wade and switch hitter Aaron Hicks and Aroldis Chapman. In light of LHP Zack Britton now out for what seems to be a period of three to four months due to elbow surgery, Lucas Luetge will get the nod to hold down the forth as Britton takes time to heal.

  So far, Luetege is making the most of his time in pinstripes as he is already impressing the front office members of the Yankee staff during his spring training outings. With that said, in a total of six appearances, over 6.1 innings of work, Luetge has struck out 13 of the 21 batters he has faced, which has included nine strikeouts of right-handed hitters. He has also just walked one batter.

  “You always want to come in starting off good,” said Luetge. The lefty who turns 34 next week also said, “I didn’t know it would be this good with the strikeouts, but I just want to keep it rolling.”

  Since the start of spring training, Yankees manager Aaron Boone has raved about Luetge, pointing to the fact that, "The improved spin rate on his breaking ball has made him very effective so far."

  “It’s a really good breaking ball, it’s a swing-and-miss breaking ball,” Boone also said. “He’s got all the spin numbers that take you back a little bit. Even though he’s not overpowering with the fastball, the fastball really plays as well.”

  Some encouraging words from the Yankee manager, as they are words that should give fans some reassurance that the back end of the rotation will look to be in its usual dominating form for the 162 game stretch ahead.