The New York Yankees are reportedly showing interest in left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin, who could be the team’s solution to their overly right-handed bullpen. Granted, the composition of their bullpen doesn’t require them to roster more than one lefty since pitchers like Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, Fernando Cruz, and Mark Leiter Jr. throw either a nasty changeup or splitter, which plays extremely well against left-handed batters. As the Yankees continue to navigate the winter, they’re going to try and attack a reliever market that has moved a lot in December.
While Tim Hill is still out there, the Yankees could opt to add even more swing-and-miss to their bullpen, and Andrew Chafin provides a southpaw who can punch tickets thanks to a wicked slider.
Andrew Chafin Might Be a Perfect Fit For the Yankees’ Bullpen Woes
Right now the bullpen is in pretty good shape, but the Yankees want to ensure they have a left-handed option for late-game situations, and Andrew Chafin could be a perfect fit. The 34-year-old southpaw is coming off of a solid season in 2024, starting his year with the Tigers before being traded at the deadline to the Rangers where he struggled, finishing the season with a 3.51 ERA and 3.54 FIP and 70 strikeouts in 56.1 innings pitched.
Chafin brings some more swing-and-miss to the bullpen, giving Aaron Boone a left-handed weapon he can go to in order to get some big strikeouts and hold lefties at bay. In each of the last four seasons, Chafin has struck out at least 63 hitters with a 3.12 ERA and 3.36 FIP, as walks have been his main achilles heel. This past season, he walked 12.6% of batters faced, but the ability to induce whiffs and get batters to expand the zone thanks to a nasty slider is attractive.
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Andrew Chafin was in the 96th Percentile in Whiff% and the 97th Percentile in Chase% this past season as he was able to consistently get batters to come up empty on swings or expand the strike zone, but his numbers plummetted after being traded to the Rangers. His velocity came down a bit with Texas, which the Yankees will hope to correct as they’ve been able to help pitchers improve or better maintain their velocity under Sam Briend and Matt Blake.
Furthermore, I believe the Yankees could help Chafin get his sinker back as it’s lost it’s ability to keep the ball on the ground and limit damage contact. Opposing hitters slugged .547 against it with a .457 wOBA, and while part of it is poor luck, the lack of variation in where he locates his sinker makes it a predictable pitch. He attacks inside to lefties and on the outer-half to righties exclusively with his sinker, but perhaps inversing those pitch locations would make him better.
The Yankees have done great work with sinkers to either improve their shape, release points, or location, and Chafin could be a perfect fit for what the organization develops well. He also continues to add to their new legion of strikeout-centric arms, a departure from their bullpen this past season which ranked 12th in K%.
Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, Fernando Cruz, Mark Leiter Jr., and Jake Cousins all punched out at least 30% of batters faced last season, and this group could be near or at the top of the sport in strikeout rate. Without the two-man wrecking crew of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge to mask some of their issues around the roster, Brian Cashman has targeted players who directly attack the team’s biggest weaknesses from last season, going after good baserunners and defenders for the lineup.
While the team has familiarity with Tim Hill, and he would certainly be an upgrade for this bullpen, the Yankees could continue to target strikeout pitchers for this bullpen as well. The Yankees still have an interest in Hill, and its possible that Chafin serves as their pivot if they cannot retain the funky left-hander, who should garner plenty of interest on the market due to his excellent 2024 season.