Ryan Garcia
When the Yankees acquired David Bednar, Devin Williams had been trying to correct course on a disastrous 2025 season, remaining the closer following a strong June-July stretch.
Bednar would step in as the eighth-inning guy, but an August implosion that included a four-outing stretch where Williams had a -1.70 Win Probability Added would make Aaron Boone change closers once again.
It wouldn’t be Luke Weaver like it had been in 2024 or early in 2025, it would be Bednar who assumed the role of the team’s closer as they were barely clinging onto their playoff spot.
For most of this run, he’s been a dependable closer whom the fanbase has come to really adore, but for a brief period of time earlier this season, Bednar looked like he too would lose his closer job.
A moment of failure didn’t serve as the beginning of a collapse, but rather as a turning point that has allowed David Bednar to put together another amazing season.
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David Bednar Is Giving the Yankees a Stress-Free 9th Inning
One of the lowest moments of the season for the 2026 New York Yankees came when Tyrone Taylor delivered a back-breaking three-run blast with two outs in the ninth inning, evening up the game for the New York Mets.
Taylor would later reveal to the media that he was advised to look out for a first-pitch curveball, and this seemed to cause a change in Bednar’s approach on the mound.
In his first 20 games of the season, David Bednar used his curveball 44% of the time as the first pitch of a plate appearance.
This number has fallen to 26% since serving up the blast to Tyrone Taylor on a first-pitch curveball, mixing in more splitters in those situations and immediately seeing massive improvements on the field.
David Bednar has pitched to a 0.47 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 19 innings pitched, but he’s been especially dominant as he’s reincorporated his curveball in a more effective role.
In his first five outings after the Taylor homer, he used his curveball just 7.9% of the time as he had to heavily rely upon his splitter to make up for the lack of a third pitch to use.
He’s since upped his curveball usage to 14.4% over his last 12 outings, becoming virtually unhittable over this stretch as batters have reached base just six times during that 15-inning stretch.
This breaking ball is a highly effective weapon when used well, and Bednar seems to be walking the tightrope successfully as he’s been able to easily navigate through crucial innings to nail down wins for the Bronx Bombers.
His success seems to be infectious; New York’s bullpen has a 2.58 ERA and +2.51 Win Probability since the shocking loss in Queens, ranking inside the top five in both statistics over that stretch.
The Yankees have been able to lean on Paul Blackburn, Brent Headrick, Fernando Cruz, and David Bednar heavily over the course of this season, with the latter three being Aaron Boone’s go-to guys in a big spot.
New York is going to need another dependable high-leverage arm to make this bullpen elite, and I believe the Yankees should prioritize acquiring one elite reliever over multiple interesting ones.
San Diego has slumped mightily as of late, could the Padres become open to moving Adrian Morejon at the deadline to cash in on a rental and make improvements elsewhere?
That’s the kind of move that would make this bullpen elite, especially when you consider what Clarke Schmidt, Will Warren, and Ryan Weathers could contribute as relievers.
Back in May, I believed this group would hold this team back all season, but David Bednar has led the charge for a resurgent unit that is a big addition away from being a guiding force for the Yankees in a title run.
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