Yankees shouldn’t overlook Chad Green’s dominance last season

Chad Green became one of the best relievers in baseball last season, and the Yankees expect him to be an integral part of the team in 2018.

A little over two years ago, the Yankees traded left-handed reliever Justin Wilson to the Tigers for two pitching prospects that most people didn’t know, right-handers Luis Cessa and Chad Green.

Green came into 2017 as a potential long relief option and by the end of the season was one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. He finished the regular season 5-0 with a 1.83 ERA, a 0.74 WHIP, a 1.75 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) and 103 strikeouts in 69 innings.

When looking at his numbers regarding total value, Green was a top 10 reliever in the majors, despite not being called up until May 8 (30 games into the season).

As for his rate, he was a top five reliever, his stuff was electrifying and he showed no signs of exhaustion or wear as the year progressed.

How good was Green? He posted a 1.61 ERA and a 1.75 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) in 39 relief appearances which was just as good as Dellin Betances in 2014 — when he had a 1.40 ERA and a 1.64 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching).

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Green’s solid work continued into the postseason. New York fell behind 3-0 in the first inning of the AL Wild Card game against Minnesota. Green came out of the bullpen to get what many consider the two most important outs of the season. The Twins had runners on second and third with one out before Green struck out Byron Buxton and Jason Castro to end the inning and give the Yanks a chance to come back.

Chad Green’s performance in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Indians would test his ability to deal with adversity. That day, the 26-year-old retired just one of four batters he faced, and he gave up a grand slam to Francisco Lindor, following Joe Girardi’s non-challenge.

Green didn’t pitch again in the series but he was able to overcome his bad outing by allowing just one unearned run with seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings in three appearances in the ALCS against the Astros.

Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray and CC Sabathia will all return next season, so there’s only one spot left in the starting rotation, and the Yankees have been looking for help.

Rumors of potential trades for Gerrit Cole, Patrick Corbin and Zack Greinke have surfaced, but New York could also turn to Jordan Montgomery or Chad Green.

Next: Yankees done shopping for starters?

Whether Green comes to Spring Training as a starting pitcher or not, he should stay in the bullpen and once again be a key setup man.

Last year, Green recorded at least four outs in 29 of his 39 relief appearances and at least six outs in 16 games. That ability to go multiple innings is extremely valuable, so hopefully, new manager Aaron Boone can recognize this and use him accordingly.