Yankees 2023 Bullpen Report Card

My Yankees report card series concludes today with the bullpen which was probably the overall strength of the team, but certainly not what it has been in years past. Let’s get to it.

One thing I always pay attention to when it comes to bullpen numbers is the percentage of inherited runners who score.

It has always driven me a little nuts that we judge relievers on their own ERAs, plus many other numbers like WHIP (walks/hits per innings pitched), and nine-inning ratios, but the one stat that sometimes gets ignored is the one that, in my estimation, is as important as anything. When a reliever comes into an inning with men on base, did he prevent those inherited runners from scoring?

After all, that’s what the manager is asking him to do - come in and put out the fire, which is really the essence of a relievers job.

Maybe that’s unfair because the guy coming in didn’t create the situation, but to me the relievers with the lowest inherited runners scored numbers are the guys who are getting the job done, usually much more than the ninth-inning closer who more often than not comes into a clean inning and with a lead to work with.

A point on saves here. Closers with the big save numbers get the best reliever money, but I’ve always considered the save an overrated stat. Now, if you want to change the rule to where you only get a save if you protect a one-run lead, that’s fine, but awarding saves because they protected a two- or three-run lead in the ninth doesn’t track for me.

The Yankees bullpen led MLB in 2023 with a 3.34 ERA, thanks largely to allowing just 59 home runs, second lowest behind only the Orioles. However, the bullpen allowed 36% of inherited runners to score which was sixth-worst in MLB. By comparison, the best team in this category was the Blue Jays whose relievers allowed only 23% of inherited runners to score. The league average was 32%.

In 2022, the Yankees allowed only 29% of inherited runners to score which was 10th-best in MLB, and in 2021 it was 28% which tied for second. So as you can see, despite some fine individual seasons, the whole of the Yankees’ 2023 bullpen wasn’t particularly great in high leverage situations which makes sense in an 82-80 season.

Here’s how I graded the bullpen:

Clay Holmes: B-

You can do worse at closer than Holmes, but you can also do better, right? The problem for us Yankees fans is we’re always going to compare closers to Mariano Rivera, the greatest of them all, and that’s not fair. We were spoiled for nearly two decades with Rivera who almost always got the job done, and usually it was pretty stress-free. Holmes doesn’t often get things done without a little chaos.

Clay Holmes certainly wasn’t elite in the closers’ role, but he had a nice season for an 82-80 team.

He had 24 saves (only six of those came when protecting a one-run lead) and blew only three, so that’s a nice percentage, but he sure made us sweat through several of those because he loses the strike zone with that sweeping slider and power sinker of his. He has a little Aroldis Chapman in him when it comes to control and that shows up in his mediocre 3.09 strikeout-to-walk ratio which is good but not great for a closer. With his stuff, that number should be better.

The majority of his key numbers were the worst they’ve been since he came to New York. He finished with a 2.86 ERA (it was 1.61 in 2021, 2.54 in 2022), a .218 batting average against, and his hits (7.3) and walks (3.3) per nine innings (7.3) led to his highest WHIP (1.175). And back to inherited runners, there were only 22 because he usually came in at the start of the ninth, but when he came in earlier, he allowed 45% of those men to score. That’s terrible.

Michael King: A

I’m grouping King in with the bullpen because 40 of his 49 appearances were in relief, but those nine starts he made were pretty damn good and he may be ready to graduate to the rotation in 2024. First, as a reliever, he posted a 3.08 ERA across 64.1 innings, batters hit just .214 with a .637 OPS against him and his strikeout-to-walk ratio was a decent 3.30. He also saved six games, and 30% of the runners he inherited wound up scoring but all of those came in the first three months of the season.

But then, out of necessity, the Yankees moved him into the rotation - which is where his career began in the minors - and he was terrific. He had a stretch of six starts where he pitched 31.2 innings and his ERA was 1.14 and his on-base percentage against was a paltry .254. And five of those games were against the Astros, Brewers, Red Sox and two against the Blue Jays.

In his nine starts covering 40.1 innings his ERA was 2.23, his strikeout-to-walk ratio was a spectacular 5.67, his WHIP was 1.141, and his batting average against was .243 with a .639 OPS. If he could do that over 30 starts, he’d be the No. 2 starter behind Cole, so we’ll see where it goes next year.

Wandy Peralta: A-

It felt like old reliable Wandy wasn’t always that in 2023, but he actually was and I go back to inherited runners scored. He made 63 appearances, had 28 runners on base when he entered and only 18% of them scored. That’s damn fine work. His ERA was 2.83 but his WHIP went up to 1.222 because he had some control problems as his 5.0 walks per nine was his highest mark since 2018 with the Reds.

Against lefty batters, he did exactly what he was supposed to do as they hit a measly .138 against him. Peralta is now a free agent, and if the Yankees don’t re-sign him, I think it’s a mistake because they would miss him.

Ian Hamilton: B+

This was a very pleasant surprise for the Yankees who signed him as a low-level free agent in January and watched him earn a roster spot with a solid spring, then carry it over to the regular season. Since he first pitched in the majors in 2018 with the White Sox, Hamilton had made only 15 appearances through 2022, so he was a big-time projection by the Yankees and it worked out.

Ian Hamilton, who I’m not sure how he ever saw the strike zone with his cap pulled so low, came out of nowhere to earn a role in the bullpen.

He pitched in 39 games (he missed about six weeks with injuries) and he had a 2.64 ERA, two saves, made three starts as an opener (those weren’t great) and 25% of his inherited runners scored which wasn’t bad.

Albert Abreu: D

I really don’t know why the Yankees brought the righty back in 2023, but I guess it was to just eat innings in games that were getting out of hand. He made 45 appearances, finished 19 without a save (again, garbage time) and his ERA was 4.73 with a terrible 1.475 WHIP and a poor 1.74 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He was decent against righty batters as he should be, but lefties killed him as they slashed .290/.403/.560 for an OPS of .963 which would be first ballot Hall of Fame stuff if it was one batter.

Yes, every staff needs a guy you can throw into an 8-2 game, but I just think the Yankees need to find someone better than Abreu, someone who hey, maybe you can throw into a 4-2 game when your bullpen is short and the game is still winnable.

Ron Marinaccio: D

Man, what a fall from grace between 2022 and 2023. In his rookie season Marinaccio was s revelation as he had a 2.05 ERA in 40 games with a 1.045 WHIP, outstanding stuff. But in 2023, batters caught up to him in a big way as he pitched in 45 games with an ERA of 3.99 and a WHIP of 1.310. That bought him a ticket back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at the end of July and we never saw him again until one game in September.

Marinaccio allowed 28% of inherited runners to score and he also had a hard time holding runners as 12 bases were stolen off him in 47.1 innings. By comparison, in 209 innings only seven bases were stolen against Cole.

Tommy Kahnle: C

He missed the first two months and when he returned he was lights out. In his first 17 appearances he didn’t allow an earned run and batters hit .148/.230/.204 for an OPS of .433. I mean, it was wow stuff.

Thereafter, starting in mid-July, Kahnle sort of lost it. In his last 25 games his ERA was 4.44, mostly because his walk percentage went way up and he served up five home runs. And this is the number that jumps off the page: He had only nine inherited baserunners because he usually came in at the start of an inning, but eight of them scored. On the whole, his final 2.66 ERA was good, and he ended up having 33 scoreless outings out of 42, but when he was bad, he was bad.

Nick Ramirez: B-

It seemed like he was the left-handed version of Abreu, a 34-year-old pinata who Aaron Boone would use in blowout games, but Ramirez actually started to see more high leverage spots near the end and pitched fairly effectively. In 32 games and 40.2 innings his ERA was 2.66 which was impressive because he often dealt with traffic thanks to his 9.1 hits per nine innings average.

What wasn’t great was 59% of his inherited runners scored, and if he has a chance to make the 2024 team, he needs to be way better against lefty batters who slashed .308/.357/.462 for an OPS of .819. He was the classic reverse split guy because righties had a terrible OPS of .542 against him. Weird.

Jonathan Loaisiga: B

He is one of the most talented pitchers on the team, but the guy can never stay healthy. It’s maddening, and in 2023 he was only able to make 17 appearances, while in his six seasons with the Yankees he has only 160, way too few for a pitcher who is supposed to be a top two or three guy in your bullpen.

Loaisiga was outstanding when he was able to pitch as he allowed just one earned run in his first 15 appearances for an ERA of 0.56 with a slash line against of .115/.161/.173 for an OPS of .334. That’s untouchable. But then he ruined his numbers his last two times out when he got hammered on back-to-back days by the Brewers in early September, the last games he pitched, as he allowed five earned runs which jacked his ERA up to 3.06. His grade reflects almost solely on the fact that he just wasn’t available.

Greg Weissert: C

He was this year’s frequent traveler award winner as he rode the shuttle from New York to Scranton all season. He surely knows all the key points on Route 80. Weissert has mastered Triple-A where he’s made 108 appearances and pitched to a 2.90 ERA and 1.156 WHIP. But his wipeout slider hasn’t been as effective in the big leagues where his ERA is 4.60 in 29 games.

In 2023 he pitched 17 times and it was 4.05 with a terrible 1.450 WHIP. But here’s something odd, and perhaps something to build on. He was greeted by 12 baserunners and none of them scored and as you know by now, that’s a number I like a whole lot. Let’s see if he can make some strides in 2024 and earn a full-time role. For instance, become the upgrade to Abreu.