Clippard in rarefied air

YANKEES fans, whether they recognize it or not, are watching one of the most excellent, durable relievers ever.

Tyler Clippard cited flexibility and rigidity for thriving in a job in which bodies are fragile and performance volatile. Clippard was blessed with a nimble body — supple fingers, wrists, hips and shoulders.

His inflexibility has come in yearround routine. Clippard said he does not deviate in how he trains, diets and sleeps. Also, Clippard sticks to a league-average fastball/changeup repertoire that is overly familiar to hitters.

“I pride myself [on consistency/ durability],” he said. “I have a pretty good sense of self and what makes me good. I stick to that almost to a fault. … Some may watch it and wonder, ‘How does this work?’ But it does.”

Clippard, a starter in the Yankees’ minors, became a Nationals reliever in 2009 and in 41 games (60 ¹/₃ innings) had a 2.69 ERA. In the seven seasons since, he has at least 69 appearances annually, totaling 509 games, 527 ¹ /₃ innings. The only other relievers with at least 69 games seven straight years were lefty specialists with smaller workloads: Buddy Groome (511 games, 432 ²/₃ innings) and Mi ke Myers ( 5 32 ga mes, 332 innings), both from 1996-2002.

Clippard had a 142 ERA-plus in his seven-year stretch compared to Groome’s 115 and Myers’ 118. Plus Clippard is on pace for 81 games this year and had a 1.37 ERA entering Tuesday.