The New York Yankees can’t afford to be losing bullpen pieces prior to the All-Star break. Already dealing with the loss of Jonathan Loaisiga for several weeks and Aroldis Chapman struggling significantly on Saturday in his first action pack from an Achilles tendinitis issue, the latest news is tough to swallow.
After the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone spoke to the media. Bullpen arm Ron Marinaccio was claimed to have “dead arm” after another solid outing in relief of Chapman.
“He had a little dead arm today,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after Saturday’s afternoon game. “We’ll see what we have there.”
Shortly after, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reported that Marinaccio would be sent to the injured list with shoulder inflammation.
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The Yankees have something special in Ron Marinaccio:
Marinaccio has been phenomenal the past few weeks, specifically in the month of June. Over 11 innings, the New Jersey native allowed just one hit and zero earned runs. He struck out 12 batters over 177 total pitches, lowering his ERA from 4.82 to 2.45.
The last time Marinaccio gave up a run was against the Baltimore Orioles on April 28, which sent him back down to Triple-A but he was called up on May 21 for another opportunity to showcase his talents.
On the year, Marinaccio features a 2.33 ERA, 10.71 strikeouts per nine, 77.3% left on base rate, and a 40.5% ground ball rate. With Triple-A, he was completely dominant, logging 13.84 strikeouts per nine last season over 26.2 innings.
However, he has quickly turned into one of the Yankees’ most reliable relief options at just 27 years old in his rookie season. Marinaccio features three different pitches, a 4-seam fastball, slider, and change-up. His fastball doesn’t have blow-away velocity at just 94.3 miles an hour, but he gets plenty of movement on his pitches.
Maranoccio‘s fastball is generating a .136 batting average and .182 slugging percentage. His slider has been his most hittable pitch, which is still a major positive with a .188 batting average against. Marinaccio has a pretty even split across his pitches, throwing his fastball at 42%, change up at 35%, and slider at 23%. His pitch location is quite spotty, but he covers the entire plate, especially with his change-up, which dips out of the strike zone, mimicking a fastball until the final moment.
Overall, the Yankees might have something special in Marinaccio if he continues to develop at this rate and build on his existing pitch sequence.