The Yankees are on the hunt for starting pitching, but here’s why the addition of a bullpen arm can benefit the Bronx Bombers, too.
The MLB Trade Deadline is approaching quickly and the New York Yankees lead the American League East by 6.5 games. However, there’s still work to be done.
The Yankees have been linked to a plethora of starting pitching, including Marcus Stroman, Matthew Boyd, and Trevor Bauer. While it would certainly behoove the Bombers to improve the rotation, a surprising underlying need still awaits to be addressed: bullpen arms.
Do the Yankees Need Reinforcements?
The Yankees, expected to have arguably the best bullpen in the sport, have dominated the competition with their relief corps. Despite ineffectiveness from Jonathan Holder, a slow start from Chad Green and injury setback after injury setback delivered to Dellin Betances, Yankee fans should feel comfortable when leading after five innings. The Combination of Adam Ottavino, Tommy Kahnle, Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman has triumphed a lot more times than it hasn’t, and enough times for the Bronx Faithful to instill their trust into New York’s super-pen.
There’s one problem though, and that problem is over usage. Between the core of relievers, the Yanks are normally trotting out on the field, the total number of innings pitched between all of them sits at 146.1. By the end of the regular season, we can expect each reliever to reach at least 65 innings, probably more. That’s a lot of innings, and then the Yankees need to keep those horses fresh for the postseason.
With this information, another bullpen arm added cannot hurt. If the Yankees were to add another ‘pen piece, it would help lighten the workload of the four aforementioned relievers.
The Betances Conundrum
Considering Betances’ injury struggles, another arm would just absorb his spot in the bullpen. It’s hard to assume that the towering righty will return at any point between now and September.
It’s also undetermined how effective Betances will be when he returns if it ever comes down to it. Will he still be battling injuries? Will him not pitching for practically an entire season ruin his rhythm? It would be far from surprising if the bullpen stalwart came back and simply couldn’t hit his stride.
This Yankee team can be something special, and everyone realizes it. It’s simply time for the New York Yankees to shore up and improve each category that may be a concern down the road. The last thing anyone wants is inactivity now to come back and bite them in the postseason. Expect the Yankees to have the same thought process.