Yankees Bullpen Should Continue to be an Asset Moving Forward

The Yankees have put an emphasis on player development over the last few years, preferring to hold on to their prospects while being less aggressive in free agency. The team made several smaller moves that will help them in 2015 and beyond. Spring Training has showcased some of their best young pitchers that should be able to help out in New York sooner than later.

The bullpen showed a lot of promise in 2014, with the emergence of Dellin Betances leading to the Yankees finishing first in the Majors in bullpen strikeouts. However, they were also third in home runs given up, leading to middle of the pack overall ranking in ERA and WHIP. The homer numbers were definitely inflated by the home ball park, giving up an average amount of homers on the road. There is reason to believe that the team can improve on last year’s bullpen, with the help of new acquisitions and a prospect that could break camp with the club.

The back end of the bullpen will be one of the best in the league, with new closer Betances taking over. He won’t be able to pitch 90 innings again (where he struck out 135), but his impact could be greater having him close out games. The set-up tandem of lefthanded free agent signing Andrew Miller and righthander David Carpenter (acquired from the Braves for Manny Banuelos) should also be one of the best in the league. Another player acquired was lefty Justin Wilson from the Pirates, who could prove to be a valuable addition as well. The Yankees may be creating a similar bullpen to that of the Braves over the last few years, where they’ve won almost all of their games while leading after 6 innings.

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Spring Training has shown the talents of a few prospects that should be able to help out at the big league level before too long. Top prospect Luis Severino may be able to make his debut as some point in 2015, but probably won’t be needed in the bullpen before then. prospect Domingo German was acquired alongside Nathan Eovaldi in the trade that sent David Phelps and Martin Prado to Miami. He is still a year or two away, but he put up outstanding numbers in Full-A ball last season.

The team did not have a first round pick in last year’s draft, but they were able to take former Mississippi State starter/closer Jacob Lindgren with the 55th overall pick, who could be a huge steal. In 25 innings last season across four levels, he struck out a whopping 48 batters. That success has carried into big league Spring Training, as the 22-year old currently leads Yankees pitchers in strikeouts with 8 in 4 innings. The lefthander is much more effective as a reliever, where his fastball sits in the low to mid-90s as opposed to the upper 80’s as a starter. It would be unlikely for him to make the big league roster, but he has definitely held his own at this point and probably doesn’t need a whole lot of Minor League fine tuning anyways. I would be surprised if we didn’t see him in pinstripes at least at some point in 2015.

The Yankees may not have the best starting pitching or hitting talent as some other teams in the American League, but their bullpen appears to be one of the best in the Majors, and could be getting help later on. The addition of shortstop Didi Gregorius could also give the pitching a boost, as his defense is top-notch. Lindgren’s success through the remainder of Spring Training is something to keep an eye on. The lefty could play himself into a bullpen spot if he continues to maintain his ridiculous strikeout rate.

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