New York Yankees: Trade shakes up pitching staff, bullpen decisions

Tuesday’s blockbuster trade filled some holes in the New York Yankees’ roster, but sparked some new issues. While the pitching staff got better, decisions still need to be made, especially regarding late-inning situations.

The New York Yankees solved a few problems with Tuesday’s blockbuster trade by adding a veteran corner infielder and two dominant relief pitchers. But there’s still the question of “what’s next?” that’s been thrown around by fans and analysts alike.

New York’s rotation remains shallow, especially with Michael Pineda’s absence for the rest of the season. The Yankees technically have a five-man rotation, but CC Sabathia is on his last leg – literally – and the trio of Jordan Montgomery, Luis Severino and Luis Cessa have pitched less than 500 innings in their careers combined.

They need a starting pitcher, or at least someone in the bullpen that can eat up a generous amount of innings. Of course, Sonny Gray remains on the radar, as well as lesser-known hurlers like David Phelps.

Baseball analyst Ken Rosenthal suggested that Dellin Betances be dealt for a top-of-the-line rotation piece, but general manager Brian Cashman is unpredictable. At this point, it seems like the front office is determined to contend, so anything is possible.

The bullpen became elite overnight with David Robertson’s return and Tommy Kahnle’s addition. Now manager Joe Girardi has to determine how to utilize his deep staff in the latter innings.

Dellin Betances was practically unhittable in 2014 and 2015, but he’s recently had a few rough outings, overshadowing his progress from earlier this year.

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Prior to June 22, Betances owned a minuscule 0.40 ERA. Since then, even though he’s surrendered runs in just four appearances, he allowed nine runs altogether in those games, boosting his ERA above 3.00.

Command was an issue for the right-hander in June and continued into July. He yielded nine walks in June, equal to the amount of hitters he walked in April and May combined. He walked eight batters in his first three games this month, but has found his control again, allowing just one free pass in his previous three appearances.

Both Kahnle and Robertson could be used as setup guys, even though Betances has a lower batting average against than each of them. Robertson isn’t new to critical situations in the Bronx, acting as the team’s closer following Mariano Rivera’s retirement in 2013.

Kahnle has been most impressive, possessing the lowest ERA of the three at 2.50 and the best strikeout-to-walk ratio at 8.57. He’s baffled right-handed hitters, who sport a .183 on-base percentage against him.

Against lefties, Robertson will probably get the call. Southpaws have a .138/.206/.207 slash against him, and have struck out 27 times in 58 at-bats. He’s always been more effective against lefties, as they’ve hit just .196 against him during his career. It would only make sense to have him face off against a left-hander in a crucial situation.

Girardi has plenty of options for his pen, and as most managers do, he will likely base his decisions on matchups, especially now that he has four stellar relievers to choose from.

He’s been more flexible with Betances in the past, so expect to see him earlier in games, as he’s been used as a middle reliever before. His track record shows he can consistently get more than just three outs each game.

Next: Yankees trade for Frazier and bullpen pieces

Aroldis Chapman will hold down the ninth the rest of the season, but the seventh and eighth innings could vary based on whether lefties or righties are due up. All in all, Kahnle and Robertson seem poised to have a bigger impact in the setup role than Betances.

As long as they get outs, no matter the situation, the Yankees won’t complain.

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