New York Yankees Editorial: Lefty Bullpen Good For Now?

Due to a number of recent roster changes, the New York Yankees seem to have nothing but left-handed pitchers in their bullpen as of late. Before Dellin Betances and Andrew miller come out to pitch, now known as “DnA”, it seems lefties are all the Yankees have to put out. However, Joe Girardi doesn’t view this as a bad thing, and if it’s working why should he?

Besides Miller and Betances, some righties included Chris Martin and Esmil Rogers. Let’s add Jose Ramirez and Branden Pinder to this list, because in the next couple of weeks I’m sure one of their names will be popping up.

Out of those right-handed pitchers, only Rogers is currently at the Yankees use, and just that is saying a bit much. Rogers has been struggling heavily, but Girardi is willing to give him a couple more chances it seems. How many more chances remains to be seen, but when the Yankees have given guys chances this year, they seem to pull through.

Chris Martin was place on the Disabled List about a week into May. Martin started off fairly well for the team, but it seems as his elbow got worse, so did his on-field performance. With Rogers struggling and his position being up for grabs, Martin might be the one to come back to the Bronx and take it. He started what are essentially rehab assignments in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on May 31st. With the Yankees only righty in the pen struggling right now, look for Martin to find himself in Pinstripes very soon, that assuming Rogers doesn’t find the stuff he had mid-season last year.

David Carpenter was recently cut by the Yankees after constantly under-performing to the team’s bullpen standards. With this move the Yankees were then able to move Chris Capuano to the pen in order to make room for Masahiro Tanaka. However, Capuano being a lefty as well didn’t cater to the ailing righty problem. Now that Carpenter is gone, all eyes are once again on Esmil Rogers, in terms of who is at the top of a list they don’t want to be at the top of.

With that leaves two pitchers who have been in the Bronx already this year, both righties, and both seem better options than Rogers at this point. Jose Ramirez and Branden Pinder wouldn’t be a bad idea for the Yankees to bring into the pen in place of Rogers. Pinder has had an overall better showing for the Yankees this year, but with Ramirez’ experience, he might be a more likely option for the Yanks. In future perspective, Pinder is more likely to find his way into the Yankees pen no matter what. His ceiling is much higher, and he was effective in his time with the team this year.

Overall, now that Capuano is in the bullpen, Adam Warren is the fifth starter until Ivan Nova comes back. Until that happens (whether the Yankees move to a six man rotation or not), the team does need another righty in the pen just to be safe. With a struggling Rogers, the best options would be Pinder, Martin, or Ramirez.

This Yankees bullpen has been a big game of musical chairs in the last two weeks, don’t plan on it stopping anytime soon.

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