There's a good chance many of the 19 Yankees-Red Sox matchups this year will be decided from the seventh-inning on, which means there's a good chance both teams will rely heavily on their bullpens in these head-to-head matchups that could determine the winner of the AL East. No big secret there.
But both teams approached their bullpen construction differently this offseason. The Red Sox lost key relievers Craig Kimbrel and Joe Kelley via free agency and are did not spend big on free agents to replace them, relying on lesser known and internal talent to fill the void. Aaron Boone doesn't think that's necessarily the wrong way to build a bullpen.
"I think a bullpen can be one of those things that develops pretty fast organically," Boone said Saturday before the Yankees-Red Sox exhibition opener. "We'll see a lot of quality bullpens emerge if you have the right kind of arms. Sometimes they are somewhat anonymous or burst onto the scene probably a little quicker than other positions."
The Yankees chose to go the other way, re-signing Zack Britton and signing Adam Ottavino to essentially take the place of David Robertson who left as a free agent. They join returning stalwarts Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, and Chad Green as the main cogs.
"I think the core of guys we've built not only do we feel they're great, but have the track record that follows," Boone said. "Sometimes where a club is with payroll flexibility, so many things that go into making those kinds of evaluations and decisions. So (the Red Sox) are a little bit different, but we were able to have some of that flexibility to add in some places. Hopefully we feel like it's something that pays off for us."
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The way Boone deploys his relievers—if all of them stay healthy—can be what separates the Yankees from the Red Sox.
"We feel like if we're at our best and we're healthy, then I think those guys can really kind of protect each other,' Boone said. "Because we do feel like both our righties and lefties aren't necessarily match-up guys. We brought in Ottavino who gives us more of a righty assassin, but he's been able to get out lefties. Zack Britton with that sinker has always handled right-handed hitters. Some of our righties like Dellin and Greeny have actually always been a little better against lefties.
"But on a given night where maybe we're staying away from a guy or two down there, they can all fill a number of different roles. We feel like they aren't just matchup guys. With our guys you're going to see them on a night they're pitching they're typically facing three and four batters, or at least pitching an inning. So we feel like most of our guys are capable of that."
How and when you change pitchers—these are things that make a manager look good or bad. Boone is already confident in the pool of talent from which he will be choosing.
