How many starting pitchers will we need, anyway?

Let's face it. Any time you have five honest-to-goodness starters, you should consider yourself floating in a swimming pool of Tito's Vodka. For now, the Yankees have five (5). For the next two months, Cooperstown Cashman can devote himself to pastel etchings or building the tree-house in his backyard. He doesn't have to sign anybody. We have five.  

But the etchings won't get him to Cooperstown. For that, he needs starter number six (6). And let's not kid ourselves, we won't have five (5) starters for long (long).

Tanaka still has a partially torn thingy in his forepaw. God bless him. He's lasted longer than anyone expected. But at any moment, he could feel a twinge, see Dr. Andrews and vanish for 16 months.

CC hasn't thrown 200 innings since 2013. Last year he threw 148. You'd have to be a Knicks fan to expect him to last the season.

Severino is coming off a year in which he threw 198 innings, nearly three (3) times what his output in 2016. That's dangerous.  

Sonny Gray threw 162 innings, about 30 more than he did the previous season in Oakland, where he had arm scares. It's why they traded him for two (2) Yankee prospects who were hurt, themselves.

Jordan Montgomery threw 155 MLB innings last year, about 20 more than he threw the previous season in Trenton and Scranton. What can we legitimately expect?

One bad week, and we could be running a Scranton rotation - Chance Adams, Luis Cessa, Domingo German and the cast of Glee. (Justus Sheffield probably  will be at Trenton.) We need a Freddie Garcia, some $6 mill-per-season innings-eater who holds back opposing hordes through five (5) and gives us the chance to win a shoot-out. 

The five-man rotation will not hold. Adam Warren and/or Chad Green won't be enough. Cooperstown Cashman needs to climb down from the tree, find an old inner tube lying on the side of the road, and coax 125 innings out of it. Bartolo, where are you?