The Yankees have gotten off to a 7-2 start, the best in the American League, and there’s obviously a lot going well to support that strong record. However, a perfect team the Yankees have not been, and the flaws have been notable especially in their two losses: the bottom of their lineup hasn’t given them much of anything, and the bullpen is a bit suspect. These were the main concerns about the team all throughout the offseason, so having them be front-and-center out of the gate as well is a bit frustrating, but it’s also hard to complain too hard when at the end of the day the team is off to the start they’re on these first two weeks.
Putting aside the lineup for now, I’d like to talk a little bit about the bullpen today. The team didn’t get an ideal start from Max Fried on Sunday, to be sure, but they also got a blowup from Jake Bird in the eighth to let the game get away from them. Similarly, in Saturday’s win the comeback was nearly squandered by Camilo Doval giving up twice as many runs as he recorded outs, and it’s not his only poor outing to start the year. Outside of closer David Bednar and Fernando Cruz, the Yankees don’t have a lot of trust to place in their relief corps. Paul Blackburn has been utilized sparingly when the team has already burnt their main arms earlier in the game or if they’re unavailable, and Cade Winquest hasn’t been able to find his way into a game even with the blowouts that the team has accumulated.
Is there a way to shake the bullpen up outside of waiting for the starting rotation to get healthy and push people down into the ‘pen? Should the team tap into their minor league depth to see if they can amplify the ‘pen? Should they stay the course and see if their current arms can adapt in time for when the team inevitably needs to rely on them for a stretch? All of these are valid questions, but they’re not ones that we can easily answer. What we can tackle, is whether this current bullpen as constructed feels like enough to back the rest of the team up. They’ve passed the test thus far, but the confidence isn’t high should the starting pitching not deliver a stellar outing like they were the first couple of times through. I’d say that while I think the bullpen is currently a weak point, it’s not the most concerning part of the team; that honor would go to what’s been happening in the back half of the lineup. But perhaps you think differently, and want to sound the alarm on this relief corps before more games start getting blown — give us your thoughts down in the comments.
Today on the site, Andrew starts us off with a deep dive into what happened around the league in the Rivalry Roundup (spoilers: the Yankees didn’t lose much ground despite the loss). Then, Matt gives some somber birthday well wishes to the recently-deceased Ken Clay, and Estevão ponders the situation of running into slumping stars early on and what to expect against them. Finally, I’ll be back later in the afternoon to open up the mailbag for another round of questions.
Today’s Matchup
Off-day
