For better or worse, Yankees are stuck with Sonny

New catcher, warmer weather, patsy opponent... same old Sonny Gray. 

Four innings, three runs, leave with bases loaded, ERA near eight, everyone pissed. Yes, another crapola outing by - (move over Mr. Sulzberger) - "the Gray Lady." And yes, we can whine to our Russian friends on Facebook, or direct fiery rivers of psychic bile toward Randy Levine's red cranial pubis, but it's like unearthing a new Scott Pruitt EPA scandal: Nobody wins, no whales are saved. In 21 innings, he has delivered 5 wild pitches, 16 walks and 18 earned runs. Abysmal? Of course. Terrible? He deserves to be held down and butt-branded by that ex-Smallville sex cult strumpet, Allison Mack. But save your breath. He's not going anywhere. 

Aside from the fact that Sonny wears the Cooperstown Cashman Cloak of Protection, the Yankees have no one to replace him. This is why Cash in trade talks last winter dangled Clint Frazier to anyone who returned calls. At virtually every position, except one, the 2018 team has youngsters ready to step into openings. The problem is starting pitchers. There, the mountain has collapsed like Kim Jong Un's test range in North Korea.

Check out the numbers at Scranton:

Chance Adams (23): 4 starts, 18 innings, 4.82 ERA.
Daniel Camarena (25): 4 starts, 17 innings, 6.35 ERA.
David Hale (30): 3 starts, 14 innings, 3.52 ERA.
Josh Rogers (23), 4 starts, 24 innings, 3.00 ERA.
Brady Koerner (24), 2 starts, 14 innings, 6.75 ERA.

Statistically, in our small sample, the best bet is Rogers, who is only getting his feet wet in Triple A. None are on the MLB roster, which would grease the wheels for a promotion. At the MLB level, Domingo German isn't stretched out, and Luis Cessa always seems to climb to the precipice and turn back. At Double A, Justus Sheffield and Dillon Tate need more seasoning and, frankly, are too valuable to start the MLB clock ticking on service time. The forecast may be cloudy, but the outlook is Sonny.

Last night, the YES machine spun Sonny's debacle by claiming he showed great movement on his pitches. There is a little truth to that: His pitches floated like Frisbies; they just weren't near the plate. Also, he showed some grit in the fifth inning, when he shrugged off a hard liner to his pitching arm and struck out the next batter... then failed on a 3-2 walk and was replaced by Mean Chad Green. Another four-inning night. Same old Sonny. But let's not kid ourselves. He's here to stay.