Matt Blake attempting to hype up Jake Bird has Yankees fans taking aggressive notes

Those expecting high-end additions to the New York Yankees' bullpen after a disastrous showing in 2025 will be disappointed. There will be new faces with Devin Williams and Luke Weaver moving out, and a bunch of lottery tickets replacing them.

The biggest improvements might come from the internal guys acquired at the trade deadline. David Bednar was a rock last year, but we saw both the good and (mostly) the bad that Camilo Doval has to offer. One guy we barely saw was righty Jake Bird, who blew up upon arrival with an ERA of 27.00 over three appearances before being unceremoniously sent to Scranton, where he also got knocked around by Triple-A hitters.

Most of us have written off Bird, but the 30-year-old former Colorado Rockie will get a chance to crack the 2026 bullpen and could be in line for a big role. That sounds terrifying to most, but Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake believes he's not only salvageable, but could even be very good this season.

Matt Blake's praise for Jake Bird could have the Yankees' bullpen looking up in 2026 if they execute their plan

Blake took some time to run through a variety of relievers with Jake Curry and Michael Kay, but his comments about Bird were the most interesting. After all, Doval has had success in the past, and Bednar has been great, but getting another quality arm in the middle and late innings will be crucial.

When asked by Kay about what the Bird had to work on and what Blake and the Yankees believe they've unlocked in him, Blake had the following to say:

"I think the biggest thing was just trusting his stuff in the zone. I think that his stuff, he has really big shapes, big sweeper, big breaking ball. The pitches are moving a lot, so we've gotta get them in the zone at a high rate, and limit a lot of the walks. Obviously, he got kinda beat up a little bit in those couple short outings with us, and it was disappointing for everyone involved that he couldn't contribute for us down the stretch.

"I think he's had a great offseason. [He's] adjusted the sinker a little bit to kind of move the profile and hopefully limit some of the contact quality with the righties on that, but overall it's just going to be zone aggression for him and trusting in his stuff because he obviously had a really good start in Colorado in the first half and maybe ran into some fatigue in the second half," Blake added.

He's not wrong on either count. By FanGraphs' Stuff+, Bird was one of the best relievers in the game, coming in 23rd (min. 40 innings pitched) with a mark of 117. The sweeper and the curve stand out. Bird threw the pair of breakers 64% of the time, and the offerings earned Stuff+ marks of 126 and 134, respectively.

Blake is also on the money regarding the potential role that fatigue played in Bird's struggles. The reliever had been in the midst of a breakout campaign in the first half, posting a 3.62 ERA, a 2.99 FIP, and a 27.4% strikeout rate that was significantly better than his career norms. However, he logged 49 2/3 innings by the All-Star break, third-most in the league. His implosion began prior to the trade with a couple of very poor outings to finish out his time with Colorado.

It sounds like Blake and the Yankees have a plan to help Bird harness his electric stuff and will hopefully manage his workload better than the Rockies did.

Bird panning out would be a big boon. The other additions to the bullpen, like Cade Winquest and Bird's former teammate, Angel Chivilli, are even greater challenges. It seems it's Bird or bust when it comes to fixing the pen, and Blake is betting on Bird.