Yankees' season could be defined by Gerrit Cole and three other pitchers

Yankees' season could be defined by Gerrit Cole and three other pitchers originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The New York Yankees have plenty of offensive firepower, with Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger, Austin Wells, Ben Rice, and Jazz Chisholm, among others, leading one of the better offenses in baseball.

While there might be questions about how much of an impact some others will have in the lineup, the offense is not the biggest question for the Yankees in 2026. That goes to the pitching staff, and specifically, four pitchers. As ESPN's Bradford Doolittle points out, the Yankees have four key pitchers, all starters, to focus on this season.

Gerrit Cole leads this group of four pitchers for the Yankees' biggest question marks for the 2026 season. Yankees have four big SP question marks in 2026 "The Yankees have a tough division to navigate over the next six months, but getting that foursome lined up healthy and strong when the postseason arrives might define how 2026 is remembered in the Bronx," Doolittle writes. The "foursome" that Doolittle is referring to includes Cole along with three other starting pitchers.

Max Fried, the Yankees' Opening Night starter, Cam Schlittler, their No. 2 starter to begin the season, and Carlos Rodon, who's on the injured list. While there will be plenty of questions about the bullpen and the offense all season long, there won't be a bigger topic of conversation than the starting rotation.