We’re less than a week into the 2021 MLB regular season, so naturally it’s time to completely overreact based on an extraordinarily small sample size.
In the first five games of the season, the Yankees’ bullpen has been incredible. Well, the entire pitching staff has, really, but I’m just here to highlight the relievers for now.
The Yankee ‘Pen: Stepping Up
Through those five games, here’s the overall pitching line from the bullpen: 20 & 2/3 innings, 10 hits, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, and 21 strikeouts. As a matter of fact, the only reliever to allow an earned run is Lucas Luetge, with 3 ER in 2 innings.
Backed by this shutdown bullpen, the Yankees rank 1st in the AL in ERA, earned runs, and walks. They’re also 2nd in the league in hits, and 4th in strikeouts. And they’ve been doing so without some of their best arms.
Aroldis Chapman was suspended for the first two games of the year, as a result of the Mike Brosseau incident last season. Setup man Zack Britton is injured, and is expected to be out until June or July. New acquisition Justin Wilson is currently on the 10-day IL, as well.
Despite the external factors, the bullpen has most likely been the best in baseball in the earlygoing. Let’s take a look at the line for each reliever entering Wednesday:
- Chad Green: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (2.26 FIP)
- Darren O’Day: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (2.06 FIP)
- Aroldis Chapman: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (0.26 FIP)
- Jonathan Loaisiga: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (0.59 FIP)
- Michael King: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K (2.76 FIP)
- Luis Cessa: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K (1.76 FIP)
- Nick Nelson: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 3 K (-2.74 FIP!!)
- Lucas Luetge: 2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (7.76 FIP)
Check out the FIP on Nick Nelson. It’s also worth noting that two of Luetge’s runs scored following what would have (& should have) been the third out of the inning, if not for a botched call by the umpire at first base. Yes, Jim Wolf, I’m calling you out.
So, let’s highlight a few relievers who have especially stood out in the Yankees’ first five games.
Chad Green: Pillar of Consistency
Chad Green has been arguably the most important person in the Yankees’ bullpen across the last few seasons. He can appear in any role, and seemingly always delivers. He’s seen time as an opener, a mid-relief option, in a setup role, and as a closer this year.
Green has recorded a career 3.15 ERA (140 ERA+) in 194 appearances since 2015. As the years have progressed, he’s simplified his repertoire more and more. In his first full season (2016), Green featured five different pitches with relative consistency. Since the start of 2020, however, he’s thrown just three: fastball, curveball, and sinker.
It’s still early, of course, but the spin rate on his fastball has increased from last year, and he has a whiff rate of 50% with the curve. The curveball has been a particularly important addition to his arsenal, as well.
From 2017 to 2019, Green allowed a hard-hit rate over 40% each season. Last year, that figure dropped to 26.7%, and in the early portion of this season, it’s 33.3%. His curveball is a major factor in these numbers.
He introduced the curve in 2020, replacing his splitter. Last season, the curveball generated a hard-hit rate of only 29.4%. His splitter featured a hard-hit rate of 100% in 2019 (Yes, 100%. I had to check about 20 times, but that’s what the numbers say).
The curve has also helped play up his fastball, as well. Green’s 4-seamer recorded a run value/100 of -2.5 in the 2020 season, his best rate with any pitch since 2017. In 4 innings this season, he has an RV/100 of -5.6 with the fastball (Numbers via Baseball Savant).
Lasagna Time for the Yankees
Jonathan Loaisiga is off to the best start he could possibly have hoped for. He hasn’t allowed a baserunner in 3 innings, and all his pitches look elite. Loaisiga has recorded an unbelievable whiff rate of 83.3% on his changeup, and his pitch mix looks a bit different, as well.
Last year, Loaisiga threw his 4-seamer significantly more than any other pitch, with 42.6% of all balls he threw being 4-seam fastballs. This year, however, just 6 of Loaisiga’s 34 pitches have been 4-seamers. Instead, his two primary offerings have been his sinker, and the aforementioned changeup. The sinker, representing 41.2% of his pitches so far, has also featured more movement than last season.
In 2020, Loaisiga’s sinker featured just 0.1 inch of horizontal break. This year, that’s up to 0.9 inches. The spin rate has also increased, from 2336 rpm to 2409.
His changeup has recorded an RV/100 of -8.6, with an average launch angle of -25 degrees. It’s a deadly weapon against left-handed hitters, due to it breaking down and away from lefty bats.
Against right-handed hitters, Loaisiga primarily relies on the sinker or the curve to get outs. However, batters hit .333 against both pitches last season. This year, the story has been different. He has an xBA of .059 against his sinker, and an xBA of .053 against the curve (Numbers via Baseball Savant).
Discussing the Yankees’ “King”
Michael King is a guy that I really want to highlight. In the offseason, the righthander worked hard to rework his pitches, specifically his changeup. He wanted to break the Yankees’ rotation this year, and while that didn’t happen, he’s still looked great in relief.
After refining his changeup, he’s seen more vertical movement from the pitch than last season. In 2020, the pitch had -2.6 inches of drop. In the early stages of this season, that figure has improved to -1.9 inches.
King also added a cutter, which has seen early results. He’s thrown it more than any pitch besides his signature sinker, and all 3 of his strikeouts have come via the cutter. The pitch gives him a good weapon to go up against right-handed hitters.
King loves to feature his changeup against left-handed batters (78.6% of his career changeups have been thrown to lefties). He also has relied heavily on his curveball as an out pitch for right-handers in the past, with relative success. However, the cutter gives him another weapon that he can manufacture outs with. And he saw those results in his season debut on Sunday.
In relief of Domingo Germán, King threw 6 scoreless innings to finish the game. He allowed just one hit, and retired the final 16 batters he faced. This was against a very talented Blue Jays lineup, as well.
King was optioned to the alternate site on Tuesday, after the Yankees acquired Rougned Odor from the Rangers. However, there’s reason to believe this is partly due to the fact that he just threw 6 innings several days ago, rendering him unusable for the next few days. He will be back at some point.
The Yankee Bullpen: Best in Baseball?
As the season continues, the Bronx Bombers will receive even more help on the back end. Justin Wilson should return in the coming weeks, and adding Britton during the summer will be huge for this Yankee team.
When fully healthy, this is the best bullpen in Major League Baseball. However, if some of the less experienced arms (namely Loaisiga and King) can continue their dominance, this may be the best bullpen in baseball right now.
