Back in April, the Yankees quietly acquired Jake Cousins from the White Sox to give them some extra depth in their bullpen. He immediately served up a monster home run to Christian Walker in the Yankees’ first loss of the season, and after a shaky outing against the Blue Jays, Scranton would be his new home for the time being. With the bullpen leaking again in June, Cousins found himself back in New York to try and provide some innings, but nobody envisioned it would be in a role where the game was in reach.
Thanks to the re-emergence of his dominant slider, Jake Cousins has become a key cog in their bullpen, and while that group has yet to find its footing entirely, he’s certainly helping them get back on track.
Jake Cousins is Sliding His Way Into the Yankees’ Trust Tree
Something that the Yankees have been desperately searching for in the bullpen is swing-and-miss ability, and Jake Cousins certainly provides that. His numbers on the season are pretty strong, with a 2.45 ERA and 35.6% strikeout rate in his body of work this season. Cousins has been particularly dominant since coming back to the team in June, as he’s posted a 2.35 ERA and a monstrous 39.3% strikeout rate.
In his first two seasons at the Major League level, Jake Cousins was considered a legitimate arm in the Brewers’ bullpen, posting a 2.70 ERA and 35.3% strikeout rate. 2023 was a disaster and injuries have played a role in his decline, but the Yankees have seemingly found a pitcher with new life in 2024. His slider has taken off this season, averaging more sweep on it than he has in years past.
This would seem like the key change, but improving the quality of a pitch can be borderline useless if said pitcher doesn’t locate it well. Striking out a hitter requires a pitch to both be excellent in velocity and shape while also being placed in a part of the zone where they’ll likely swing and miss. The Yankees aren’t just seeing an improved slider in terms of movement, but also in terms of location to left-handed batters.
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Lefties were a thorn in Jake Cousins’ side for most of his career, but by consistently attacking the outside corner, he’s putting them in situations where they’re taking called strikes or swinging over it for whiffs and grounders. It plays up what is a very interesting arm angle, as Cousins has a wide release while standing on the third-base side of the rubber to really create an even more deceptive look for lefties.
We can measure this with Horizontal Approach Angle, a metric that measures the angle of how a ball travels to the plate based on where it’s released. The average slider has a 1.7° HAA, but Jake Cousins’ slider has a 5.6° HAA, which is the fifth-highest mark for any slider (min. 100 pitches thrown). A lot of this is based on the release point and location of the pitch, and because Jake Cousins is creating such a sharp angle, it makes it even more difficult to pick up for opposing batters.
Jake Cousins is generating more chases than in previous seasons, and a huge part of that is that deception. I’m not sure if it’ll sustain because it does rely on command, and that can go at any moment, but Jake Cousins has the recipe for success right in front of him. He’s utilizing a funky release point to create weird angles for hitters, and he’s quietly become one of the better relievers in the Yankees’ bullpen because of it.