The Yankees have done the tough part. They rather seamlessly replaced the irreplaceable Mariano Rivera.
Three different closers – David Robertson, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman – have excelled in succeeding the greatest closer of them all. In fact, the presence of Dellin Betances has provided the Yankees an elite 1-2 end game in all of these seasons since 2014.
And in those years, the Yankees usually could stretch to a third reliable guy, whether it be Adam Warren or Justin Wilson or, as was the case for half a season in 2016, the full devastating trio of Betances, Miller and Chapman.
What the Yankees have been unable to successfully fill is the rest of the bullpen. They have run through a collection of relievers who have failed to seize a role – such as Johnny Barbato, David Carpenter, Matt Daley, Nick Goody, Chris Martin, Branden Pinder, Nick Rumbelow, Anthony Swarzak and Kirby Yates.
The ineffectiveness of the relief chorus motivated Joe Girardi to place such a heavy workload on Betances from 2014-16 – there just was not much trust that the back end of the pen could hold leads or keep the Yankees close when they trailed by a run or two.
But one significant reason for the Yankees’ early success this season is how well the whole bullpen has pitched.
“I really like the makeup of what we have,” said Warren, who has faced 20 batters and retired all of them. “Obviously, the back end [Betances and Chapman] is stellar. But I feel like we have other pieces that can give multiple innings and multiple looks.”
Warren called it the deepest bullpen with which he has been associated. Tyler Clippard concurred, saying: “It runs deeper than that. We have guys in Triple-A who can be in the big leagues now.” Chasen Shreve, who didn’t allow a run in three Yankees outings, is back at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre along with Ben Heller, who impressed in spring training, plus veteran Ernesto Frieri.
The value of a deep bullpen resounds right now. In recent years, the emergence of power arm after power arm suffocated offenses late in games. But the cycle might be turning. MLB Network Radio posted a chart showing that bullpen ERAs this April were 4.10, compared with 3.76 in the first month last year and 3.54 in 2015.
The Yankees relief crew has a 1.23 ERA, which ranks second in the majors to the Dodgers, as does their .170 batting average against and 0.90 WHIP. At a time when walks and homers have infested the game, the Yankees pen has kept the ball in the strike zone (2.5 walks per nine innings) and the ball in the park (two homers in 12 games).
The Phillies pen already has yielded 12 homers and the Nationals 10. The Royals, their relief group having wilted from its championship peak two years ago, was averaging 7.6 walks per nine innings. Expected contenders who have stumbled early, such as the Blue Jays, Cardinals, Mariners and Rangers, can cite woeful penmanship as a root cause.
The Yankees’ bullpen success this year actually ties back to the period last season when they traded Chapman and Miller. Wanting his team to continue to try to contend, Hal Steinbrenner insisted Warren be included in the Chapman deal and pushed for the acquisition of Clippard – who, along with Luis Severino, helped the Yankees pen stay strong down the stretch last year.
Clippard, though, has appeared in 416 games since the start of 2010 – 20 more than any other pitcher. His stuff might be faltering a drop. Conversely, Warren’s stuff – not as sharp last year – has been terrific. He and Bryan Mitchell, both of whom competed for the rotation during the spring, give the Yankees a pair of multi-inning options.
Tommy Layne, the lone lefty setup man, actually has done better against righties early this season, but has a track record of handling lefties well. Jonathan Holder won a job with a strong spring, and his curve/cutter mix has looked strong.
Obviously, there is a long way to go, and the Yankees need this phase to continue to shine because their rotation is filled with red flags. Also because they do not want to continue to overburden Betances, especially since the righty was part of a contentious arbitration process with the Yankees and could fight back against requests to push his boundaries again.
The best outcome for the Yankees is to extend what occurred through a dozen games – Girardi spreading the responsibility and receiving strong work throughout his pen.