Andy Martino of SNY is one of the most consistent reporters when it comes to the Yankees, especially after working on his book titled “The Yankee Way” which was released last month. While it’s still far too soon to know who exactly the Yankees will target at this year’s trade deadline, there’s already some buzz about potential positions they could address soon. We’ve seen the infield create some concern around the fanbase, and that’s masked an area of question for the Bronx Bombers this season; their bullpen.
The injury to Jonathan Loaisiga and some inconsistent play from other key arms on this team have created some massive weaknesses in the middle innings, and Andy Martino reported that “multiple people around the team” are looking at adding a right-handed power reliever to bolster their bullpen.
Yankees Eyeing Bullpen Help At this Upcoming Deadline
One of the names mentioned in the article was Mason Miller, who everyone will eye at the deadline due to his powerful fastball and dominant stuff. Andy Martino made sure to cast heavy doubt on the notion that the Yankees would pay the price for such a luxury however, as the Oakland Athletics will ask for the moon in return for the lights-out closer. It should be noted that Clay Holmes is a free agent this offseason, and that could push the organization to be more aggressive in their pursuit of a reliever with multiple years of control.
They’ve got an excellent season out of Clay Holmes, who has helped stabilize this bullpen through some turbulent times, but it’s the lack of strikeouts that presents a concern. The Yankees currently have the 10th-worst strikeout rate among all MLB bullpens, and that’s unusual given the fact that they’ve usually sported overpowering and flat-out untouchable arms in the past. You wouldn’t consider Clay Holmes a “strikeout artist”, but his ability to get enough whiffs and keep the ball on the ground makes him extremely valuable.
Getting an arm that pairs with him from the right-handed side and can provide more strikeouts could be the exact boost their bullpen needs, but Andy Martino also discussed potential left-handed additions. Right now, the Yankees have gotten an ugly 4.15 ERA and 5.34 FIP from their left-handed relievers, with both Caleb Ferguson and Victor Gonzalez not performing at the level the Yankees envisioned they could entering the season.
How the Yankees choose to address the bullpen remains to be seen, but they’ll have some work to do as they look to bolster a unit that has been strangely inconsistent.