Yankees manager is ‘pretty high on’ Brett Headrick despite rough spring outing

Yankees fans spend half their lives screaming at the television because manager Aaron Boone leaves a starter in three batters too long, but let’s give the man his flowers for a second. He actually understands the chess board. He knows that spring training box scores are essentially fiction, written by guys trying to find their grip in the February sun.

Friday against the Twins was a perfect example of why you can’t manage by a spreadsheet alone. Brent Headrick stepped onto the mound and got tagged for two runs in a single inning. In a vacuum, that’s a bad day at the office. But the Yankees put up seventeen runs, so nobody was crying into their Gatorade. What matters isn’t the two hits Headrick gave up or the ball that cleared the fence. It is the specific brand of chaos he brings to a bullpen that desperately needs someone with his profile

The Need for High Octane Heat

Look at the current roster of southpaws in that pen. You have Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough, two guys who look like they’re playing catch in a driveway compared to the rest of the league. They are the definition of “lefty funk,” throwing junk that makes hitters look silly when it works and like batting practice heroes when it doesn’t. They are among the slowest throwers in the game today. That is fine for a middle-inning bridge, but you cannot survive a postseason run with nothing but soft-tossers.

Boone tipped his hand when he told Greg Joyce of the New York Post that he is pretty high on Headrick. He sees the vision. Headrick represents the power element this relief corps is missing from the left side. While the other guys are nibbling at the corners with 88 mph fastballs, Headrick is sitting at nearly 94 mph. That three or four-mile-per-hour difference is the gap between a foul ball and a swing-and-miss when a high-leverage situation gets hairy.

A Proven Track Record in the Bronx

We aren’t talking about some unproven rookie here either. Last year, Headrick dealt with a forearm contusion and spent some time down in Scranton, which limited him to just 23 innings in the Bronx. But man, those innings were quality. He posted a 3.13 ERA and punched out 30 batters. That kind of strikeout rate is exactly what you want when there are runners on second and third with one out.

The manager even admitted that Headrick was a serious candidate for the postseason roster last October. That tells you everything you need to know about where he stands in the pecking order. If the Yankees want to actually compete with the power hitters in the American League East, they need a lefty who can blow the doors off. Relying solely on command-oriented pitchers like Hill is a recipe for a late-inning heart attack.

Decision Time in the Bullpen

The roster crunch is real, and good arms are going to get cut or sent down. That is just the nature of the beast in New York. But if the front office is smart, they’ll realize that variety is the spice of winning. You have the soft-tossers already locked in. Now, you need the hammer. Headrick is the only lefty on this roster who fits that power profile, and passing on him would be a massive tactical error.

If Boone truly believes in the “power lefty” philosophy, the choice is obvious. You keep the kid with the high ceiling and the fastball that actually pops. Let the Twins have their spring training homers. When the lights get bright in April, I want the guy who can miss bats. Headrick has the stuff to be a foundational piece of this bullpen, and it’s time the Yankees stop overthinking it and give him the ball.