Yankees: Adam Ottavino pushes the bullpen above and beyond the rest

There is no denying that the New York Yankees had a stable bullpen last season, but with the signing of Adam Ottavino, they are now among the leagues best.

After questionable decisions were made by skipper Aaron Boone in the postseason matchup against the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees found themselves in quite a predicament. The starting rotation and the bullpen needed to be upgraded.

This offseason the Yankees lost free agent David Robertson to the Phillies but brought back Zack Britton. Shortly thereafter, they were able to sign Adam Ottavino to essentially replace D-Rob.

The 33-year-old Ottavino comes back to his home state of New York after spending the last seven seasons in Colorado. Last season was a career year for the righthander, as he held a record of 6-4 in 77.2 innings. His ERA of 2.43 was the lowest of his career.

Of all relief pitchers in 2018 that pitched over 70 innings, Ottavino ranked fourth in K/9 with 12.98. Similarly, he ranked sixth in the MLB with a WAR of 2.0. This is a pattern seen in other major categories as well, with also having the third most strikeouts (112), the third least amount of hits (41) and the tenth lowest ERA.

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The acquisition of Ottavino has bolstered the Yankee bullpen into a new spectrum, the best in all of baseball. Joining Ottavino will be the returning Jonathan Holder, Chad Green, Zack Britton, Travis Kahnle, Dellin Betances, and of course Aroldis Chapman.

With this revamped bullpen, the vision of gaining a 28th championship is not as blurred. Locking up Luis Severino to a rightfully deserved contract, and knowing that this is the final season of CC Sabathia’s career, all the stars have aligned for 2019.

The AL East is looking to be another shootout for the title. As much as the Yankees have made moves this offseason, Boston has remained the favorites to win the AL East. But, that is just projections, and anything can happen in a 162 game season.

With a new season just around the corner, the potential for the 2019 Yankees is limitless and it will surely be something to witness. Ottavino adds another valuable arm to that potential. He will be the first-ever Yankee player to wear number 0 and should put up a lot of those this season.