Yankees fans holding breath on Cy Young winner's injury update

Mets fans learned in late February that Senga (an All-Star as a rookie last season) would start the 2024 campaign on the injured list due to a right shoulder injury.

While the Yankees have some solid depth in starting rotation behind Cole, losing the right-hander for any amount of time to begin the regular season would obviously be massive.

The 33-year-old had arguably his best year to date in 2023, leading MLB in WHIP (0.98) and wins above replacement (WAR) for pitchers (7.4), while pacing the AL in ERA (2.63), win-loss percentage (.789), hits per nine innings (6.8) and innings pitched (209).

New York finished second in the AL in opponent's batting average (.234), tied for fourth in team WHIP (1.24) and seventh in team ERA (3.97), but only tied for 10th in quality starts (48).

The Yankees will return oft-injured southpaw Carlos Rodon to slide in behind Cole and they signed 2023 All-Star Marcus Stroman in the offseason. 2022 All-Star Nestor Cortes is projected to be the No. 4 starter with 28-year-old Clarke Schmidt slated to round out the group.

Rodon was limited to 14 starts last year and his debut in New York was delayed until July due to forearm and back injuries. He finished 3-8 with a 6.85 ERA.

The Yankees will be Stroman's fourth team since 2019, after he began his career with five-plus seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays. While he made his second All-Star team in 2023, his went just 10-9, his innings pitched (136 2/3) and ERA (3.95) were his worst since 2018 and his WHIP (1.25) was his highest since 2019.

After a breakout 2022 campaign, "Nasty Nestor" was limited to 12 starts last season and his ERA (4.97) was more than double the previous year.

Last season was Schmidt's first as a full-time member of the rotation and he finished 9-9 with a 4.64 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.