The Problem Is the Bullpen

Early in the season, back when the Yankees were on pace for like 120 wins, Aaron Boone said they were making "deposits," knowing full well that they'd likely start making "withdrawals" at some point.  Well, we've reached that point.  Because the team that we've seen over the past month is nothing like the one that played the first four-and-a-half months of the season!

So, how does a team go from practically unbeatable to one that looks like they couldn't even beat Little Leaguers?  Well, there are several reasons.  One is injuries, which have finally reared their ugly head after a relatively injury-free first half.  They've also stopped hitting, especially with men on base.  And there have been some ugly outings by the starting pitchers.  Or maybe the Curse of Joey Gallo is really a thing.

All of those have been problems to varying degrees, but none are the main culprit.  That would be the bullpen.  A bullpen that was so good early in the season and was once praised as the strength of the team is now anything but.  And if you want to know why the Yankees have been losing the types of games they were winning earlier in year, look no further than the bullpen.

This nightmare of a road trip is actually a perfect example.  Five of the six losses on this trip have been by one run.  Two of them were in extra innings.  Three included a blown save, and two others featured the bullpen giving up the winning run late in a tie game (eighth inning in St. Louis, 13th inning in Seattle).

If you want to extend that to the end of July, you'll find more losses that can be blamed squarely on the bullpen.  July 31 vs. Kansas City: Up 6-2 after 7, bullpen gives up 1 in the 8th, 3 in the 9th, lose 8-6.  July 27 at Mets: Score 2 in 8th to tie game, give up 1 in 9th to lose 3-2 on a walk-off.  July 12 vs. Cincinnati: Up 3-0 after 8, give up 4 in the 9th, lose 4-3.  And, you could argue that it was losing two of three to the Reds at Yankee Stadium right before the All*Star Break (which came right after a Sunday night game in Boston they led 6-3 after 3, only to lose 11-6) that really got this run started.

In my opinion, there are two relievers in particular to blame: Albert Abreu and, especially, Clay Holmes.  (And, to a lesser extent, Wandy Peralta.)  Abreu got traded in the offseason, and was released by both Texas and Kansas City this year.  After the Royals DFA'ed him, the Yankees brought him back as if he was some sort of missing piece.  He isn't.  Every time Abreu pitches, he gives up multiple runs it seems.  In each of his last two outings, he's taken the loss.  Yet, for some reason, Boone keeps going to him.

Holmes, meanwhile, was so good in the first half that he made the AL All*Star team.  That pitcher is a distant memory.  The Clay Holmes we have now is nothing like that one.  He walks everybody, has given up 11 runs in his last 11 outings, and has blown four saves in the last month.  On July 9, his season ERA was 0.46.  Now, just over a month later, it's 2.39.  Holmes had a 7.00 ERA in July, and it's currently 10.80 in August.  Why is this guy still the closer?!  Especially since he was never intended to be!

Of course, there's an obvious solution to Holmes blowing games late--taking him out of the closer's role.  He only moved into it because of how well he was doing and because Aroldis Chapman went on the IL.  That's a little detail everybody seems to forget.  Chapman's had his battles with ineffectiveness, yes, but he only lost the closer job because he got hurt.  When he returned, he'd been Wally Pipped by Holmes.

To be clear, I had no issue with Holmes remaining in the closer role when Chapman came back.  He'd been doing well, so there was no reason to change things.  And, since there was concern about Chapman, not throwing him immediately back into high-leverage, ninth-inning situations made complete sense.  Especially since they've been trying to piece together the back end of that bullpen pretty much ever since Chad Green and Michael King were lost for the season.

With all that in mind, the time has come for Chapman to regain his job.  He's back to being Aroldis Chapman.  It's also worth noting that Chapman has yet to blow a save this season.  Despite his 0-3 record and high ERA, he's 9-for-9 in save chances (and it's been well-established throughout his career that Chapman's big innings are generally either when he hasn't had a lot of work or it's not a close game...or both).  And, again, the only reason Holmes took over as the closer to begin with was because Chapman went on the IL!

And, while this shouldn't be a factor (and isn't), the fact that Aroldis Chapman is being paid an awful lot of money to be the closer can't be ignored.  He's been a closer for his entire career.  That's why he got the contract.  The fact that he's been willing to do this Swiss Army knife thing says a lot, since Chapman either doesn't actually care what his role is or, if he is unhappy about it, doesn't want to say so publicly.

He's been a Major League closer for 10 years for a reason, though.  And, with Holmes struggling mightily, it's time to make him one again.  Not only is he the logical choice, can he really do any worse than Holmes?  Because, while they can't be blamed entirely on the bullpen, all of these recent losses have had a recurring theme.  And that's late runs that cost the Yankees the game.

Fortunately, they built enough of a cushion that their recent struggles have had no impact on the Yankees' lead in the AL East.  And maybe this is just a blip along the road.  After all, every team goes through a bad stretch at some point over the course of a six-month season.  So, while it's definitely enough to be a concern, there isn't really any reason to panic.  As painful to watch as this stretch has been, there's little to no doubt the Yankees will be one of the six AL playoff teams.

But, for a team that hasn't been to the World Series in 13 years, simply making the playoffs won't be enough.  The team they had in April and May looked destined to end that drought.  The current version?  Not so much!  There's time to fix it, though.  And that starts with fixing the bullpen, which is anything but championship-caliber right now.