How Should The New York Yankees Align Their Bullpen For The Wild Card Game?

Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The Dominant Bullpen Trio

As I said before, you can make the case that the Yankees have had the best bullpen trio in the American League with Justin Wilson, Dellin Betances, and Andrew Miller. The key for the Yankees against whomever they play is to get into the eighth inning with a lead. This season, New York has the second lowest ERA in the eighth inning or later at 2.98 (Baltimore leads at 2.74). Due to the doubleheader today, New York will likely have to use the big three at least one more time before Tuesday, but they will at least get some rest before that game.

Starting with Wilson (who was on our Yanks Go Yard show earlier this year), he has established himself as the go-to-guy in the seventh inning, whether it’s facing a left-handed or right-handed bat. While Wilson’s ERA in the second half of the season has been 3.58 (2.73 in first half), his control has been better. He has walked six batters in his last 31 appearances.

Betances has been his usual self, but one thing to keep an eye on has been his fastball command. Yes, the velocity is still there, but he has walked 11 batters in his last 14 games. Now, you should still have a ton of confidence with Betances in the game, but he might be needed for more than three outs if Wilson has command issues.

Finally, let’s take a look at Andrew Miller. Since returning from the forearm injury in July, Miller has blown a couple of saves and he was a lot more hittable in the month of August (.268). However, one thing to look at involving Miller is the dominance he has shown at Yankee Stadium this season. In 30 home games (18-for-18 in saves), Miller has given up only four earned runs, has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 8:1 and has held opponents to a .143 batting average.

While the Yankees’ trio in the bullpen may not be as big of an advantage in a best-of-five series because of the workload they have had this year, a one game playoff is the perfect way to shorten a game to six innings with these three guys, if the Bronx Bombers can score some runs.

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