hardball Pitching injuries already adding up for these playoff hopefuls — and some are already crumbling By Joel Sherman Published May 9, 2026, 12:48 p.m. ET Tarik Skubal's chances of a third straight Cy Young are essentially over after undergoing surgery. Getty Images Aaron Judge has been Aaron Judge, so he is performing like the best hitter in the world. Ben Rice has done a pretty fair imitation of Judge from the left side. And you could argue that the best overall Yankee has been Cody Bellinger, who every day, in some way, impacts winning.
Yet, the best item about the Yankees — especially comparatively — is that the rotation depth they believed they had constructed has indeed manifested.
The Yankees and Dodgers distinguish themselves in this area. Their finances and farm system have helped develop enviable starting depth, and they were 1-2 in rotation ERA (all stats through Friday). The Dodgers got back a two-time Cy Young award winner who has yet to pitch this year, Blake Snell, on Saturday, and the Yankees get back Carlos Rodón on Sunday and their former Cy Young winner, Gerrit Cole, will return in the coming weeks.
But on the other side of market size, Milwaukee also has assembled enviable depth. The Brewers obsess on adding arms they like, almost always with minor league options. They fixate on covering 1,460-ish major league innings by dispersing quantity and quality. Consider that the Astros led the majors in starters used at 12 out of desperation created by injury and underperformance, and were 29th in rotation ERA. The Brewers were second, having used 10 starters, but having done so more out of strategy and were fifth in rotation ERA.
