Yankees: 3 players who have proved us wrong beyond belief

2. Wandy Peralta

Remember when we lost our sh-t when the Yankees traded Mike Tauchman for Wandy Peralta and a player to be named later? Tauchman, a tremendous defender and baserunner, was an asset for the Yankees (at least early on in the year). Peralta? He owned a 5.00 career ERA.

And sadly, all of those negative feelings were validated in the first few weeks of the trade. Tauchman was on fire for the Giants and Peralta owned a 5.40 ERA in his first eight games with the Yankees. Grab your torch and pitchforks!

But since then, Tauchman has been designated for assignment and … Peralta is one of the most important relievers on the Yankees???? Ever since coming off the COVID IL, Peralta has changed his approach and has surrendered just one unearned run over his last 11.2 innings, lowering his ERA to 3.62. He just went toe-to-toe with Freddie Freeman after Aroldis Chapman couldn’t get the job done, and he shut the door with changeup after changeup to save an important win for the Bombers.

He’s got three saves, a win and a hold since Aug. 9. Apologies to Peralta. Apologies to general manager Brian Cashman (for Taillon as well). The Yankees bullpen is quietly reinventing itself with Jonathan Loaisiga becoming the closer of the future and Peralta potentially becoming an invaluable lefty capable of high-leverage innings.

Wandy Vision, indeed.