The New York Yankees have seemingly shifted their focus on the reliever market, with the team engaged heavily in the Hector Neris market, and Andy Martino of SNY reports another bullpen target. Wandy Peralta, who has been with the team since the 2021 season, is still a possibility for the Yankees, who hope to supercharge their bullpen with upgrades that can pitch high-leverage innings. They seem to be set on their starting rotation and sixth starter, as they brought in Marcus Stroman (two years $37 million) and Luke Weaver (one year $2 million) this past week.
Peralta, who has pitched to a 2.72 ERA across 153 innings in his career with the Yankees, would give the team another high-leverage option from the left-handed side.
Yankees Could Be In Play For Second Reunion of the Month
Wandy Peralta was stellar for the Yankees last season, posting a 2.83 ERA across 54 innings, once again providing valuable innings in high leverage. He seemed to take a step back in his ability to throw dominant innings, and it reflected in his FIP as it hovered at 5.05, indicating some good fortune for the 32-year-old southpaw. That being said, it doesn’t take into account your ability to generate harmless contact, and Peralta’s 57.4% groundball rate allows him to get out of jams without generating swings-and-misses.
His changeup-sinker-slider combination remained highly effective, and his excellent velocity coupled with the ability to mix up his delivery times can throw hitters off. He’s been linked to the Yankees earlier in the offseason as well, and, unsurprisingly, they’ve taken a liking to this kind of pitcher. The ability to generate groundballs with an excellent defense behind you can allow you to prevent runs better than underlying metrics may suggest you do, and perhaps that’s an appeal for the Yankees.
This wouldn’t be the first reunion of the month for the Yankees’ pitching staff however, as the team also brought back RHP Luke Weaver to fill their long relief role in the bullpen.
Weaver pitched to a 3.38 ERA in three starts with the Bronx Bombers to end the 2023 season, and the Yankees really like his cutter and four-seam fastball. Perhaps the Yankees can unlock something in his arsenal, as if he can refine the cutter it might be the damage prevention pitch that he’s always needed.
Following the signing of Marcus Stroman, the team’s need for rotation help isn’t as dramatic, and they’ll focus on the bullpen to handle late-game situations. While the Yankees had the best bullpen ERA in baseball last season (3.34), they can always use more upgrades, especially with their miss on Yoshinobu Yamamoto.