The New York Yankees are known to have the best bullpen in baseball. Behind Chapman, Britton, Ottavino, Green, Cessa, and Hale, the staff holds the third lowest ERA among every team at 3.76, just behind Tampa Bay and Cleveland. A big reason why the Yankees hold that is because of Chad Green.
After his rocky start to the season and tune-up in Scranton, he has been dominating hitters. In the months of May, June, and July, he has only allowed six earned runs in 28.2 innings pitched. In that time, he has fanned 41 hitters while only walking four (Baseball Reference).
Green has taken on the “opener” role when the Yankees choice to use that strategy in some series. Among those eight games that Green has started, he has allowed just three earned runs over 11.2 innings while fanning 19. Another notable fact – the Yankees are currently undefeated in each game that Green has opened. The reason why Green might be so successful in the opener role is because he was primarily a starter when he began his professional career.
Part of the reason why Green is having so much success is because of his control of his pitches. Everyone knows free 90s means runs given up. Green has only allowed eight walks this season, which shows why his ERA has improved in the last three months. Take a look at this chart from Fan Graphs, you can see how consistent he is in the zone.
Green’s 2019 ERA might not show the dominance and effect he has had on the Yankees’ success this year. Part of the reason why it is high is because of his early season struggles. However, he is someone that manager Aaron Boone knows that will come in and throw strikes. And with how the Yankees swing the bat, as long as they get the outs they need, they will win ballgames.