Yankees: Why they should experiment with an ‘opener’ in 2019?

It’s hard for me to logically debate why the Yankees should not use an ‘opener’ in some games this season. The Tampa Bay Rays were forced to use this innovative pitching deployment because of setbacks to their staff in 2018. Analysts have dubbed the 2019 Yankees bullpen as the greatest of all-time (on paper). So why shouldn’t they experiment with the opener this year?

The opener worked for the Rays in 2018, so why can’t it work for the Yankees? Once the Rays began to use the opener strategy, their ERA started to decrease drastically. They shockingly finished the season with 90 wins and the second-best ERA (3.73) in the American League.

Before manager Kevin Cash implemented the opener, his staff sported the eighth-worst ERA in baseball at 4.45. By the end of June, their 2.87 ERA was the best in baseball since beginning their new pitching plan. By the way, their ERA was ahead of the Yankees who at the time had the second-best ERA at 2.96. Tampa Bay’s pitching was their strength despite not having an elite pitcher in their pen as the Yankees do now.

In my opinion, it would be a mistake for the Yankees to not experiment with this new concept. I understand why older Yankees fans could be against the team using an opener this season. They may not like change. Why should we revise the way things are?

Those who oppose this radical remodel may quote the old cliche “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well, times are changing, but not by design. Perhaps the concept of the opener may have developed by accident, but so did the beloved chocolate chip cookie.