Yankees' first bullpen meltdown of the year results in loss fans better get used to

Don't forget, not too long ago on Opening Day, the New York Yankees nearly blew a late lead that would've undoubtedly halted that magical offensive momentum the world saw on Saturday and Sunday. New closer Devin Williams escaped a jam of his own doing, but was dangerously close to relinquishing a 4-1 lead to his former team, the Milwaukee Brewers.

It's also important to note the bullpen was not tested after that. The Yankees scored 32 runs in their next two games and didn't break a sweat.

As the season goes on, though, this bullpen will be tested, and fans will learn exactly how thin it truly is until the proper reinforcements arrive. The home crowd got their first taste of that on Tuesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After starter Will Warren surrendered just two earned runs on one hit and a walk across five innings of work in his season debut, he was let down in the eighth inning. Fernando Cruz came in to log two scoreless innings of work, but when Aaron Boone went to Tim Hill, that was the end of the night.

Hill allowed two earned runs on two hits in just four pitches. Then came Mark Leiter Jr., who one-upped Hill to surrndered three earned runs on one hit (a grand slam) and two talks. He threw 19 pitches and only eight went for strikes. He was all over the place and couldn't locate his splitter at all. In hindsight, the strikeout he recorded on Josh Naylor looks like a miracle.

That was that. A 4-2 Yankees lead was erased and the Bombers trailed 7-4 after Eugenio Suarez went yard with the bases juiced and two outs in the top of the eighth. Ben Rice would homer in the bottom of the ninth, but the Yankees lost 7-5.

Before we keep grilling the bullpen, the offense will not be let off the hook here, either. They went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and struck out 14 times despite forcing Corbin Burnes out of the game after just 4 1/3 innings.

There are precarious elements of the Yankees' pitching staff that must be noted. As much as we love Tim Hill, it's unclear if he'll be able to replicate his magic since joining New York in the middle of 2024 after he was ditched by the Chicago White Sox. Leiter Jr. could be an x-factor of sorts, but he was really bad after the trade deadline. He has a lot to prove before he can be utilized as a proper high-leverage option.

The only constants are Luke Weaver and Devin Williams in the back end. Everything else is up to chance when it comes to replicating performance, improving from the season prior, or recovering from injury. Though fans trust New York in the pitching department, just know that this probably won't be as smooth as a process as some of us might've been hoping.