Back in the offseason, before the baseball world along with the rest of the country hit pause, Jordan Montgomery wasn’t even guaranteed a spot in the rotation. After the addition of Gerrit Cole, the Yankees had finally built a formidable 1-2-3 in Cole, Luis Severino, and James Paxton. Criticized for not having a championship caliber rotation, Cashman had transformed the Yanks in just two small years from a ragtag pitching staff to one of the most intimidating in the AL, if not all of baseball.
Behind the star-studded front three were Masahiro Tanaka and JA Happ, two established veterans who were guaranteed starting roles at least to start the season.