NORTH PORT, Fla. — Tim Naehring has lived through the highs of Gerrit Cole and the lows of Kei Igawa. CC Sabathia fronting a championship and the hype, hope and quick fizzle that was Deivi Garcia.
In 19 seasons with the Yankees, 11 as vice president of baseball operations, Naehring has helped form many permutations of the rotation. And so it resonates when he says this is the best he has felt about a group as a season approaches because of “The top-end talent, depth and prospects coming. … This could be a very dynamic pitching staff that has impact and depth.”
Of course, Naehring adds the proviso about both the need for general health of those pitching right now and that the positive rehab progressions of Cole, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt continue. Because depth can evaporate quickly when it comes to pitching.
The Braves have lost three starters since the outset of spring training — Joey Wentz (knee) for the season and Spencer Schwellenbach (elbow) and Hurston Waldrep (elbow) for at least half a season. This from a rotation that already had lots of injury-history concerns with ace Chris Sale, Grant Holmes, Reynaldo López and Spencer Strider.
