PERFECT 'PEN
Yankees somehow improve upon top-rated relief group
CHICAGO — Until Brian Cashman boldly dealt Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller last July for high-end prospects the Yankees undeniably had the best late-game bullpen in baseball. Joining those lefties was righty Dellin Betances.
Yet, as good as the Holy Trinity of Smoke was, the Yankees never quite figured out the bridge innings between the starter and when Miller or Betances was summoned.
Now, Chapman is back with Betances and Miller is an Indian. And the knee-jerk reaction is that the Yankees bullpen isn’t as good as it was a year ago.
However, the depth of the pen is better than it was last year thanks to Adam Warren, Tyler Clippard and Jonathan Holder who all have had a solid five weeks to start the season.
Entering Sunday night’s game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field the Yankees’ relievers’ 2.68 ERA was fourth among American League pens and tied for second with the Astros by holding hitters to a meager .204 average.
A year ago Joe Girardi called on Kirby Yates (41 games), Anthony Swarzak (26), Chasen Shreve (37), Nick Goody (27) and Richard Bleier (23) with some success but not consistency. Bleier was effective and Luis Severino was sensational in 11 relief outings. However, the trio of Warren, Clippard and Holder had been far better through 28 games heading into Sunday night’s tilt against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
The only weak link has been lefty Tommy Layne, who was more effective a year ago after joining the team in early August. In 10 appearances this season, Layne has a 9.45 ERA and has given up a dozen hits and walked four in 6 2/3 innings. Most alarming is lefty swingers are batting a healthy .400 (6-for-15) against him. In his three previous outings Layne had worked 2 2/3 innings, giving up eight hits, two walks and six earned runs.
While Clippard has done well pitching ahead of Betances and Chapman, Warren has been sensational after a shaky 29 games with the Cubs before rejoining the Yankees via the Chapman deal to the Cubs last July. While the 29year-old right-hander improved in 29 games for the Yankees, he wasn’t anywhere near what he has been so far.
Warren worked 15 2/3 innings in nine games going into Sunday night’s action and had an ERA of 0.57. He allowed five hits, one earned run, struck out 17 and hitters were batting an anemic .096 against him.
“It might be a little bit different, and Adam has really added to that with his versatility,’’ Joe Girardi said when asked to compare this year’s pen with last season’s model. “And you look at Johnny Holder, he has pitched really well. It seemed like a lot of times [last year] we had a lot of rotating guys down there. That can be hard because you want to have some consistency.’’
Clippard doesn’t possess the wipeout slider from the left side that Miller does, but in 14 games Clippard had a 1.50 ERA and had whiffed 15 in a dozen innings.
Holder, a sixth-round draft pick in 2014, worked 12 games going into Sunday night’s action and had a 2.70 ERA in 10 innings.
Since the Yankees’ starters had logged 165 innings and were 11th in the 15-team AL, bullpen fatigue could become a factor. Yet, the 84 innings by the pen were the fewest in the league going into Sunday night’s games.
“It’s the deepest bullpen we have had,’’ Warren said. “Obviously with the back-end guys you get a lead in the seventh inning and you feel pretty good about it.’’