Rudy Giuliani is going to bat for James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka and the rest of the Yankees' starting pitchers ... telling TMZ Sports they're good enough to win the World Series!!
"They wouldn't have the best record in baseball if they didn't have enough pitching," the former NY mayor says.
Of course, tons of MLB pundits disagree ... especially because the Houston Astros added Zack Greinke to their already stacked rotation at the trade deadline while the Yanks stood pat.
But, Giuliani says he's got no worries about the Yanks' staff heading into the postseason, telling us their 90-49 record "indicates they do" have enough!