Andres Chavez
The New York Yankees entered the season with four relievers who stood above the rest when considering age, ceiling, and track record: David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Fernando Cruz, and Tim Hill. Then, they have a few talented guys, but more of a question mark. Jake Bird and Brent Headrick certainly belong to this group.
We have already discussed Bird and how effective he has been for the Yankees this year. It’s time to talk about Headrick, though.
Since landing on the Yankees as a waiver claim right before the start of the 2025 spring training, Headrick has shown his immense talent in spurts. The organization used him as an up-and-down arm for much of the season, and then a left forearm contusion limited him in the second half, but he was able to put up a 3.13 ERA in 23 frames with 30 punchouts.
Headrick Has Earned His Place On The Yankees
This year, he entered spring training with no promises of a roster spot. He won one anyway, and it’s a good thing he did because he has been magnificent.
After tossing yet another scoreless inning on Friday’s home opener against the Miami Marlins, the southpaw now has a perfect 0.00 ERA in 4.1 frames, with just one walk and seven strikeouts. His 0.61 FIP is absolutely incredible, and even though the sample is tiny, he looks legit.
Last year, Headrick threw 63.9 percent fastballs and 25.4 percent sliders, with the splitter as a third option at 10.7 percent. This year, he has been throwing fewer hitters (43.6 percent before Friday) and many more sliders, at 40 percent. He has also incorporated a sinker, which he uses 12.7 percent of the time, and the splitter is now fourth at 3.6 percent.
A Long Way To Go, But A Brilliant Start Indeed
The change was a good idea, since the slider is generating, before Friday’s game, a whopping 61.5 percent whiff rate.
The splitter isn’t so bad, either, as it can do this against righties:
Headrick still needs to maintain this level of dominance for a long period before we can officially say he has joined the aforementioned foursome, but he and Bird have been the Yankees’ best relievers in the first seven games.
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