As the 2019 season continues for the Yankees, the bullpen has been a little bit shaky. But who has the highest grades so far?
Coming into the season The Yankees were expected to have one of, if not, the best bullpen in baseball. The bullpen has not been as strong as we all hoped it would be and losing Dellin Betances doesn’t help, but it has gotten a lot better as the season has gone on and is slowly coming back. The Yankees have used many different pitchers out of the bullpen this year. Here is a grading of each pitcher.
Tommy Kahnle: A
Tommy Kahnle has been the Yankees best bullpen arm so far this year. Tommy has pitched 11 times this year and sports an amazing 1.86 ERA. In 9.2 innings this year he has struck out 13 batters and seems almost untouchable. This is such a good sight to see as Tommy looked completely lost all last year. Each appearance he makes he looks more and more like the guy we got in 2017.
Adam Ottavino: A
Adam Ottavino has been absolutely filthy in every single appearance this year but one and is up there as one of the Yankees best bullpen arms. Otto has pitched in 12 games this year and sports a 2.51 ERA. In 14.1 innings he has struck out 19 hitters.
We all knew the guy we were getting when the Yankees signed him during the offseason, but I’m not sure we were prepared to see just how good his stuff actually is. At times his pitches move like a wiffleball and I feel bad for anyone who has to face him.
Zack Britton: A-/B+
Zack Britton has been very solid for the Yankees this year. Coming into today Britton has pitched 12 times and sports a 2.45 ERA. Zack has 11 Ks in 11 innings. When Britton has had his “A” stuff this year, he seems untouchable. But there has been a couple of outings this year where he has completely lost the zone and blown leads. But overall he has been extremely solid and is looking more and more like the pre-injury Britton.
Aroldis Chapman: B+
Chapman has been very solid for the Yankees this year as their closer. He has appeared in 12 games so far and owns a 2.38 ERA and has struck out 16 hitters in only 11.1 innings. Chapman is 5 for 6 in save opportunities.
It seems as though Chapman’s days of being just a fastball closer are over as his average velocity is down. But what it has enabled him to do is use his slider more, and boy is it a great pitch when he has it going. Overall Chappy has been very solid this year but has given us some close calls.
Luis Cessa: B-
Up until his last outing, Cessa had been very solid for the Yankees. But he did show his true colors against the Giants yesterday and has fallen down the list of trusted relievers. Cessa has pitched in 8 games this year and owns a 4.15 ERA. Cessa has stuck out 15 batters in 13 innings.
Most of us fans still don’t know what to think of Cessa because we don’t know what we are going to get each time he comes into a game. He has shown signs of maybe being a Chad Green(2017)2.0 but then shows signs of being a triple a pitcher. I’m just not sure who the true Luis Cessa is.
Jonathan Holder: D
Holder has been pretty much terrible so far this year. Coming into today Holder has appeared in 9 games and owns a 5.40 ERA. In 13.1 innings he has punched out 15 hitters. I think all of us would like to get back the Holder from last year. The one that seemed untouchable. But in each game this year, Holder has given up runs and has either put us out of the game or opened the door for the other team.
I hope Holder wasn’t a one year wonder last year as the Yankees can become even more dangerous if he can find himself again.
Chad Green: F
I mean, there really isn’t much to say about Chad Green this year, he has sucked and got demoted to triple a because of his 16.43 ERA. The Yankees really need Chad Green to find himself again.