It’s only mid-April and the New York Yankees bullpen has
already been on a roller coaster ride this season. The team’s biggest strength
took a hit this winter with the trade of Adam Warren only to receive Aroldis
Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds back in a trade. The strength of the bullpen
took another hit when Justin Wilson was traded only to see Luis Cessa, at least
in spring training, pitch well and lock down a bullpen slot out of spring
training. The team thought they had Adam Warren replaced when Bryan Mitchell
won a spot in the bullpen out of spring training as a reliever that could start
only to take another hit when Mitchell injured his toe and learned he would
miss four months of the season at least to fix it after undergoing surgery. The
Yankees bullpen was handed another bad card when Nick Rumbelow announced that
he needed ulnar collateral ligament replacement surgery, better known as Tommy
John surgery, but you know what? If Johnny Barbato keeps pitching the way he
has I don’t think any of it is going to matter.
The Yankees already have a strong bullpen with Andrew Miller
closing out games and Dellin Betances setting up games in the 8th
inning and that core only got better when, albeit in a small sample size again,
Chasen Shreve remembered how to get Major League caliber hitters out with his
splitter. The Yankees have weathered the storm through seven games now and in
another month they get their eventual closer back in Chapman after the lefty
got suspended for 30 games due to an altercation this winter but New York may
have also found another great arm in Barbato.
The theme of this post, like most posts similar to this in
the early parts of the MLB season, is going to be sample size. Stats regress or
improve and over 162 games you usually have a much clearer picture than you do
after two weeks of the season but you have to crawl before you can walk so
stick with me. Barbato, already deemed the Yankees “secret weapon” by that guy
that has me blocked because I broke a story before him and wanted some
accountability at the New York Post, has pitched extremely well not only this
spring but it has carried over into the regular season as well. Barbato seems
to be quickly earning his keep and working his way into the Joe Girardi Circle
of Trust, trademark pending, this season giving the Yankees another strong 6th
or 7th inning option out of the pen.
The Yankees pen, as patchwork as it has become in the early
portions of this regular season, is still a strength and it’s only going to get
better as long as everyone keeps pitching the way that they’re supposed to.
When Chapman returns and when the Yankees find the confidence to bring up a
Jacob Lindgren or a James Pazos again this pen has all the makings of being
unhittable and downright unfair. Hate us now, we live for this.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)