A look at the Yanks’ pitching depth

Marc Hulet at Fangraphs looked at five pitchers the Yanks could/should turn to if they need to fill a rotation spot next year. The first three pitchers are the usual suspects – Hughes, Kennedy & Aceves (though Hulet doesn’t appear to realize that Aceves spent significant time in the Mexican League) – but the last two names are interesting: Phil Coke & Eric Hacker. We know Coke will prepare for the season as a starter, but he’s a two pitch guy with a show-me third pitch. He might be a decent back end option, but his stuff was so much better out of the pen that I can’t help but think he’d be more useful there (especially given the current construction of the team). Hacker finally reached Double-A after being drafted in 2002, and although he was very successful (91.1 IP, 2.87 FIP) he’s still not a guy you’d expect to see on a list like this. Make sure you check it out.