{"id":118171,"date":"2026-04-08T10:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=118171"},"modified":"2026-04-08T10:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:04:09","slug":"the-bronx-bombers-or-the-bronx-armory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/04\/08\/the-bronx-bombers-or-the-bronx-armory\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bronx Bombers or the Bronx Armory?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The <\/span>New York Yankees<\/span><\/a> are off to an 8-2 start and have the best record in the American League. Considering their pedigree and payroll, this is certainly no shock, but the way they are doing it is a bit surprising. The Bronx Bombers have been doing it with their arms more than their bats. So far the pitching staff for the Yanks has been one of the best in baseball. If the men in the navy pinstripes are going to hoist a 28th World Series trophy this fall, we know <\/span>Aaron Judge<\/span><\/a> and company will play a vital role. However, currently, the men on the mound are doing the heaviest lifting. Should we call this the Bronx Armory?<\/span><\/p>\n

The Forgotten Ace<\/b><\/h2>\n

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Max Fried<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>in this writer\u2019s view<\/span>, unfairly gets overlooked when discussing MLB\u2019s top starting pitchers<\/a>. Look at the back of his baseball card if you don\u2019t believe me. He is proving that again this season for the Yankees. In his first three starts, this lefty is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA and a .750 WHIP. That goes along with a .8 WAR in just three starts. If you project that over for a full season, here is your AL Cy Young winner for 2026. When you factor in that Gerrit Cole<\/a> and Carlos Rodon<\/a> are both out for a decent amount of time, Fried is the lead assault weapon in the Bronx Armory.<\/span><\/p>\n

You Stepped in Some Schlitt<\/b><\/h2>\n

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Right now <\/span>Cam Schlittler<\/span><\/a> is Robin to Max Fried\u2019s Batman for the New York Yankees. <\/span>We all remember his <\/span>rookies-can\u2019t-do-this<\/span><\/i> performance in the 2025 playoffs against Boston in an elimination game<\/span><\/a>. This big righty has continued that dominance into the 2026 season. In three starts, he has punched 22 tickets with a combined zero walks and home runs allowed. That adds up to league-bests FIP (.51) and WHIP (.48). MLB hitters are still trying to figure out the book on this Massachusetts native, but he hasn\u2019t revealed any chapters yet. Once the other rotation mainstays are back on the hill, this guy slots in nicely as another bazooka in the Bronx Armory.<\/span><\/p>\n

An Experienced Pen<\/b><\/h2>\n

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Many MLB bullpens are replete with young and inexperienced fireballers. The <\/span>New York Yankees\u2019 relievers<\/span><\/a> are on the other end of the age seesaw. In fact, the Yanks only have one relief pitcher below the age of 30. However, the old heads have been holding down the fort in the Bronx so far. <\/span>David Bednar<\/span><\/a> is leading the AL in saves (5), and <\/span>Brent Headrick<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Tim Hill<\/span><\/a> haven\u2019t allowed any runs in 12 combined appearances. This all adds up to the best team ERA in the American League (2.42). Through about two weeks, the reinforcements in the Bronx Armory have also been pretty lethal, even though it was one of the Yankees biggest concerns coming into 2026<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Will This Last?<\/b><\/h2>\n

It is a very long and arduous baseball season. So, more likely than not, the New York Yankees\u2019 pitching staff will not be this elite all the time for six months, especially with an aging bullpen. Yet, their starting staff will get two shots of adrenaline in the <\/span>not-too-distant<\/span><\/i> future to buttress two lights-out starters. That should be very formidable and sustainable in the American League East and give the Bronx Bombers a <\/span>just-as-potent<\/span><\/i> Bronx Armory for the battles ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n

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(Top Image Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Yankees are off to an 8-2 start and have the best record in the American League. Considering their pedigree and payroll, this is certainly no shock, but the way they are doing it is a bit surprising. The Bronx Bombers have been doing it with their arms more than their bats. So […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5735,"featured_media":118193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2,1071],"tags":[28914,29128,5829,218,41,28789],"class_list":["post-118171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yankees","category-featured","category-mlb","tag-brent-headrick","tag-cam-schlittler","tag-david-bednar","tag-max-fried","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-tim-hill"],"modified_by":"Matthew Nethercott, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5735"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118171"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118195,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118171\/revisions\/118195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}