Nick Goody Makes Good

Although the back end of the Yankees’ bullpen has been exactly as dominant as advertised, manager Joe Girardi has struggled to find the right combination of middle relievers to bridge the gap between New York’s starters and their late-inning trio. The Yankees have used 13 relievers thus far in 2016 and the majority of them have met with mixed results. Outside of the Big Three, only Kirby Yates has earned a place in Girardi’s inner circle. The 29-year-old Yates has been a steal for New York since he was acquired this winter from the Indians for cash considerations, posting a 2.08 ERA and 2.32 FIP in 17 appearances, bouncing back from a disastrous campaign with the Rays last year.

Another member of the Scranton Shuttle has been making a strong case for a permanent bullpen spot since his promotion on April 21, 24-year-old righthander Nick Goody. After struggling with his control in a brief 2015 cameo, Goody has allowed just one walk and one home run in his first 11 innings while striking out an impressive 12 batters. He has two plus pitches in his fastball/slider combo. His fastball sits in the low 90’s but can touch 95, while his slider has averaged 81.8 in the big leagues with a tight break.

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Goody served as the closer for LSU in his junior year before being selected in the sixth round of the 2012 amateur draft by New York. His rise through the minors was exactly what it should have been for a polished college reliever, striking out 13.1 per nine with a 2.34 in 100 MiLB appearances. A 1.39 ERA and 10.9 K/9 in 20.2 IP for Triple-A Scranton last year earned Goody his first big league cup of coffee, and he showed enough while there to be one of the favorites a big league job going into 2016 spring training.

Although he failed to break camp with the team, Goody has made the most of his opportunity when it finally came. He so impressed Girardi during his May 13 3.1 IP scoreless effort against the White Sox, that the Yankees’ manager sent down top prospect Gary Sanchez a day early, opting instead to start light-hitting backup catcher Austin Romine at DH against the formidable Jose Quintana, rather than wait the necessary 10 days to recall Goody if he were optioned to the minors.

While Goody certainly doesn’t have the shutdown stuff to rival Dellin Betances or Andrew Miller, he has the chance to carve out a niche for himself in the Yankee bullpen in the coming months, hopefully solidifying the middle innings which have too often been an achilles heel for New York this season.