Yankees relievers discuss struggles; Ottavino and Green generate only one swing-and-miss in 58 pitches on Monday

New York Yankees, Adam Ottavino
Jul 31, 2019; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Adam Ottavino (0) pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

By now, the struggles of the Yankees‘ bullpen have been well-documented. A few days ago, we discussed the subject that the unit wasn’t elite by any means. And that was before a depressing series of games in which the relief corps just haven’t been able to come through performance-wise.

Last night, against a direct rival no less, the unit was once again tasked with the responsibility of getting 12 outs to lead the Yankees to victory vs. the up-and-coming Toronto Blue Jays. It’s fair to say that the relievers didn’t deliver.

Chad Green and Adam Ottavino could only get one out in what turned out to be a 10-run inning for the Blue Jays. A total of 13 foes went to bat in that half-inning, which last almost 45 minutes.

“I’ve never had an inning quite like that before,” Ottavino said according to MLB.com. “It’s the worst feeling in the world. You let your team down. It hurts a lot.”

The Yankees could miss the postseason

The Yankees are now 21-20 and in danger of missing the playoffs.

“We’re going through a lot collectively right now,” Boone said. “We’ve got to find a way to continue to lean on each other and pick each other up. We trust that the work we’re doing behind the scenes will start paying off for us.”

Green incurred in a rare walks spree, including the first hitter of the inning. “The leadoff walk came back to kill us,” he said. “Once we have a four-run lead late in the game like that, we expect to win those games. For whatever reason, we’re not getting it done right now.”

Ottavino’s performance was downright awful. He faced six hitters and couldn’t retire a single one of them.
Between the two Yankees’ relievers, they generated only one swing and miss in 58 pitches thrown, which Ottavino found “bizarre.”

“We’re both above-average swing-and-miss pitchers,” Ottavino said. “It’s an indication that either my stuff wasn’t good, my location wasn’t good or that they had something on me – they had a great approach or knew what was coming. I don’t have any of those answers right now. All I know is that I didn’t get it done.”