Javier Vazquez

Last season, the New York Yankees were able to ride through the playoffs with a three-man rotation. This year's staff is not built for that. The Yankees will likely need a regular four-starter rotation when the playoffs begin.

The big series in the standings may be the Yankees vs. the Rays, but judging by the ticket prices on StubHub, the one the fans care about is Yankees vs. Red Sox and we have a good one tonight as Andy Pettitte goes up against Josh Beckett.

Important Notes: The stats were last updated on September 20, 2010.  Sorry about that pitcher getting cut off.

Keep in mind, this will be in an order of the teams I think that made the cut.

Each week or two I will evaluate the top four things (two from the AL and two from the NL) coming into October ball.  This week I'll be talking about the top-four teams with the top 1-2-3 punch that will give them the best chance to win the World Series.

Yankee fans and management had been growing uneasy recently, as the state of the starting rotation heading into the final weeks of the season has helped to create as many question as it has answered.

The prospect of heading into the post-season with a starting rotation led by CC Sabathia, followed by Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett, and Javier Vazquez or Ivan Nova was enough to shake the confidence of even the most ardent supporter of the team.

Via ESPN:

The Yankees won their eighth consecutive game today against the Toronto Blue Jays, and are the hottest team in baseball as the stretch run begins.

Javy Vazquez was less than stellar in his return to the starting rotation today, giving up five runs in four and two thirds innings pitched, the Blue Jays also slugged two home runs.

Back in 2007, the Yankees had a starting pitcher in the minors who blew through several levels of play. He regularly hit the gun at 95-97 MPH, even as late as the seventh inning in one game for the Trenton Thunder.

He was good starting pitching prospect, but the Yankees needed his power arm in their bullpen. So Joba Chamberlain was in the bullpen for the 2007 post season.

He was tried as a starting pitcher and despite not being Wes Ferrell right off the bat, he still did well considering he was restricted in more ways that Stephen Strasburg laughs at him.

Today is September 1st and the Yankees are sitting alone in first place. The Rays are just one game back though, and have proven that they will not back down this season. The Yankees are also seven games up on the Red Sox for the Wild-Card lead, but with six head-to-head games left against them, that lead isn’t exactly air-tight. The Yankees also have the toughest schedule of all three teams so nothing is locked in place. Get ready for what could be an exciting month.

Since being moved to the bullpen to work on mechanics, the performance of Javier Vazquez has improved. The Yankees are now seeing the type of pitcher they thought they were getting last offseason. His performance has improved enough for the righty to get another shot in the starting rotation.

Today, Andy Pettitte will pitch a bullpen session in Chicago. There are two possible outcomes for this situation.

Good outcome: Pettitte could return in mid-September and be the horse he was before the injury, when was on his way to a Cy Young-type season. 

Bad outcome: He could feel a "pull" in his groin, and the Yankees could be stuck with the pitchers they have, or get someone off waivers.