Yankees somehow ruined David Bednar's most valuable asset and we can't comprehend

The New York Yankees bullpen has a lot of issues so far this season. That's no surprise given the struggles the unit faced last year, and the only solution provided was to rid the relief corps of Devin Williams and Luke Weaver. And now, despite David Bednar on a very good run, there's something else to worry about beneat the surface.

Bednar has been heavily used by Aaron Boone, partly because the Yankees don't have any other comfortable ninth-inning alternatives, and partly because running trusted relievers into the ground is what Boone does. Bednar hasn't surrendered a run since May 22, but before that he had allowed at least one run in 11 of his 21 appearances through May 18. It had been a long while since a logical person could call Bednar "trustworthy."

One of the biggest issues Bednar has faced since arriving from last year's trade deadline has been the deterioration of his former top weapon, his big 12-6 curveball. Last season, the pitch produced a run value of six while yielding a .172 batting average and .207 slugging percentage. It also generated an eye-popping 43.1% whiff rate.

This year has been a completely different story. Batters are hitting a whopping .389 against it and crushing it to the tune of a .722 SLG. The breaker is getting whiffs at a decent 32.1% clip, but the drop is still significant, and the mistakes have been egregious.

Yankees need to figure out how to fix David Bednar's curveball because his fastball is still a liability, too

Bednar's curveball was front and center during the Yankees' dreadful 2-7 road trip in May. He hung one to Brice Turang when the Milwaukee Brewers second baseman launched a two-out walk-off shot to complete the sweep on May 10. That was one thing, Turang is an excellent player. But when he left another one spinning in the middle of the plate to New York Mets journeyman Tyrone Taylor, allowing him to tie the May 17 game with a homer to left, it was a bridge too far.

The excellent YES Network color commentary team of David Cone and Paul O'Neill criticized Bednar for the pitch. Cone called out Bednar for a lazy, get-me-over pitch, giving a .188 hitter the chance to pull the ball with authority. O'Neill noted that Bednar's process of fiddling with his grip, with his thumb visible on the seam, may have also tipped the pitch to Taylor.

Whatever the case may be, the former Pittsburgh Pirate's hook hasn't been nearly good enough this season. Matt Blake and company's top priority needs to be getting it back on track.

That's because Bednar's fastball has also been ineffective this year. He began the season with a concerning dip in velocity, and while it has started to return, he still hasn't reached the 97.1 miles per hour he averaged last season (he's at 95.9).

The usage has since improved and it's been mor effective, but back on May 18 hitters were batting 200 points higher against the heater, jumping from .229 to .429, and were slugging 230 points higher, jumping from a .413 clip in 2025 to .643 this season. That's since normalized to .302 (not good) and .356 (muich better).

Bednar's splitter has continued to be good, and he used it heavily to retire Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to secure the victory in the series opener against the Blue Jays in what was another ninth inning that induced cardiac events around the New York Metro area. The problem is that the splitter relies on the art of surprise, so spamming the pitch a la Tommy Kahnle and his changeup isn't a viable strategy.

So whether it's that Bednar is tipping his curve, is suffering from some sort of mechanical issue with the pitch, or something else is afoot, the Yankees need to find a solution quickly or else their trade deadline bullpen makeover will require yet another task.

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