Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Analyzing the Yankees bullpen in 2015

By Eddie Sapienza
The Yankees were supposed to have the best bullpen in baseball. So far the bullpen hasn't really lived up to that. We all knew coming into the season that Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller would be our best guys. Yet we never found out who was the official closer. Manager Joe Girardi used Andrew Miller at the closer's role. So we know that he is the closer. Recently Miller went down with a forearm injury and went on the DL so Betances had to step up.

Justin Wilson is another guy in the bullpen who also had to step up with Miller's injury. He moved into the 8th inning role. In the beginning of the season he was struggling but has been better since. Wilson was acquired in a trade that sent backup catcher Francsico Cervelli to the Pirates. The Yankees had a great punch for the last 2 innings. It took them some time to figure out who could be the 7th inning guy.

Justin Wilson will most likely get that role once Andrew Miller comes back which I like. Another guy I think deserves the 7th inning role is Chasen Shreve . Shreve was in the trade that sent David Carpenter and him to the Yankees for prospect Manny Banuelos. Carpenter pitched awful for the Yankees and was then DFAd and traded to the Nationals for prospect Tony Renda. At first Joe Girardi  trusted Carpenter in situations like these and on Opening Day was probably going to be the 7th inning guy.

Another guy in the bullpen started the season as a starter and then was moved to the bullpen. Chris Capuano has struggled as a starter but I thought he has been better in the bullpen. He is used as the long man and was used when Nathan Eovaldi only went 0.2 innings and gave up 8 runs.

Esmil Rogers was absolutely awful throughout the whole season. Thankfully he was optioned down to Triple-A and hasn't done much better their. I don't expect to see Rogers back anytime soon. When Rogers was optioned Sergio Santos was called up. Santos pitched in a bases loaded jam with 0 outs and was able to get out of it. Then he was placed on the 15- Day DL and now has to undergo Tommy John surgery.

Rookies- The Yankees have used a lot of Rookies this year in the bullpen. They include Brandon Pinder, Diego Moreno, Jose Ramirez, Jacob Lindgren, Jose de Paula, and Danny Burawa. Nick Rumbelow was also called up but hasn't been used yet. Pinder has pitched well in his limited appearances. Moreno has also pitched pretty well since coming up in his 1 appearance. Jose Ramirez was awful and Jacob Lindgren wasn't great but I want to see Lindgren back soon. De Paula and Burawa both did bad and were sent down but only appeared in one game. They should give them a chcnace before sending them down.

The Yankees bullpen has been pretty good but it could always be better. I hope to see an improvement in some guys and others just need to keep up what they're doing.

4 comments:

  1. One think Joe Girardi has always been good at was building a bullpen on the fly, and he's going to have to do that again this season. Outside of Miller, Betances, Shreve and Wilson it gets pretty sketchy on the pen but I think that can come together.

    Pinder has pitched well enough to pretty much earn his spot while I think Lindgren has to come back up as soon as he is physically ready. He was hiding an injury from the club and coincidentally at the same time his ERA rose and his effectiveness fell. He is too good of a reliever to keep down.

    I am huge on Rumbelow and Nick Goody, who hasn't been called up yet, and I think Rumbelow can do wonders for this pen if given enough opportunities. The Yankees have the pieces to have the best bullpen in baseball but Joe Girardi has to use them correctly.

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  2. I agree. Once Miller comes back. That will be a huge boost for the bullpen. He's been great so far.

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  3. I have been a fan of Rumbelow, in fact, I think I had him listed as a starter before some "do-gooder" (no name please) corrected me...thank you Daniel, I put him in the wrong list! LOL

    Lindgren is 5'11' 205 #, depends on if he is a full effort guy or not. We had a few guys about his size that weren't bad as starters...Whitey Ford 5'10 and Guidry at 5'11'.

    Even though I realize how much Warren has helped the starting rotation, I think it will be him going to the BP as the 7th, 8th, inning guy depending on The "Two Towers of Doom". There is no doubt about his worth in the BP, and Eovo would be the same as a long man as he is as a starter...on one time and off the next time.
    Hopefully, Warren gets another shot at starting.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)