One big criticism of the Yankees of late has been the notion that Aaron Boone doesn’t always manage with a sense of urgency, and one big wonder is if the Yankees’ bullpen is cooked after being relied on heavily, and often in high-leverage situations, all season.
Monday’s win over Texas, however, perhaps quelled both for one night at least, as Boone went to his relief corps as soon as Nestor Cortes Jr. started getting in trouble, and they responded with 4 2/3 scoreless innings to help the Yankees pull back within a half-game of a Wild Card spot.
“They really picked us up,” Boone said of his relief corps, in perhaps the understatement of the year.
Prior to Monday, the bullpen’s 5.22 ERA over their last 22 games was the fifth-worst in MLB, and one of the biggest culprits/disappointments was Chad Green, who had allowed seven runs in 8 1/3 innings over his previous seven appearances – including a go-ahead homer for the other team in each of his last three games.
Monday, however, Green went five up, five down, coming on with one out and the tying run at the plate in the fifth and getting all five he faced. He did allow a sacrifice fly that cut the Yankees’ lead to 4-3, but other than that, it was a flawless outing for the righty.
“Greeny had a few days where he was down, so I think he came in fresh and I thought threw the ball really well through the five hitters he faced,” Boone said.
“I think at this point in the season, I don’t want to make excuses or anything like that – my body has felt pretty good all year,” Green added. “We’re all gonna go through points where we struggle a little bit or stuff like that, but I felt like I was in a good place. It’s always nice to have a few days just to reset mentally as well as physically.”
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Clay Holmes and Joely Rodriguez followed Green, Holmes allowing one hit over 1 2/3 and Rodriguez allowing just an infield single before striking out Nick Solak to escape a two-on, two-out jam.
What helped in that case? Holmes needed just 14 pitches in the seventh so he was able to start the eighth, and while the lefty/lefty matchup of Rodriguez versus Nate Lowe didn’t get the desired result, the southpaw did rebound by fanning a hitter in Solak who has a .732 OPS versus lefties this year.
“Holmes I thought did a really good job of being pitch efficient enough in his first inning of work to go back out there and face those righties again to start the eighth there, and then Joely came in and did a great job,” Boone said. “He gets to two strikes and hits a little nubber from Lowe, the guy he’s in there to face who gets the little infield hit against him, but he did a great job with Solak.”
Not the way they drew it up, but still, effective, especially in the era of a three-batter minimum.
“Joely’s a problem for lefties; he’s probably the one true left-on-left that we want that matchup any time it’s their best left-handed hitter,” Boone said. “If we can get him in that situation, he’s got the stuff, and just his delivery that creates a real problem for left-handed hitters. But he’s done a good job with righties, too. He’s an important guy down there. And he’s unique to everyone else that we have. Most of our other lefties, for example, are fairly neutral split guys, and obviously our righties down there, he’s our one guy that we like against their toughest lefties.”
To cap it off, the Jekyll-and-Hyde season of Aroldis Chapman rolled back to the good, as his fifth straight
"I feel like he’s in a much better spot. I feel like he’s building that confidence. Strike throwing with all his pitches- the ability to strike the fastball, to drive that fastball on the arm-side lane is important for him,” Boone said of a once-again confident Chapman. “That kind of sets up the splitter and the slider off of that, but his strike throwing has just been better, and I’ve felt that way the last several, frankly.
Four-plus high-leverage innings again, but come Tuesday behind Jordan Montgomery, the Yankees will have Luis Severino potentially back in the mix, and Domingo German may be back as soon as this series as well, so they’ll have some fresher weapons to deploy down the stretch.
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A strong, deep bullpen has been a hallmark of the Yankees for years now, and with just 11 games left, it’s going to need to be again if the Yankees hope to play more than three games in October.
Said Chad Green about the crew: “The good thing about our bullpen is we can throw a lot of different looks at you.”
Added Boone: “I think you understand our situation is whoever gives us the best chance in different situations.”
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