New York Yankees: Zack Britton’s injury a crushing blow

On Tuesday, the New York Yankees received their first bit of bad news in 2021. Two-time All-Star Zack Britton will undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone chip from his pitching elbow. Britton, the team’s primary set-up man to closer Aroldis Chapman, is expected to miss at least one month and the start of the 2021 regular season.

In just his third full season in pinstripes, Britton has never been more important to the Yankees bullpen and his loss will require some strategic maneuvering by Manager Aaron Boone and his staff.

The New York Yankees will be without primary set-up man Zack Britton to start 2021.

The 10-year MLB veteran and 2016 AL Reliever of the Year came to New York via a trade deadline deal with the Baltimore Orioles back in 2018. With Chapman steadily in place as the Yankees’ ninth-inning man, Britton slotted perfectly into the set-up role. The result? One of the most lethal back-end bullpens in baseball.

The 33-year-old owns 111 total appearances in New York and has been everything management asked for. In those 111 appearances, Britton pitched to a 2.14 ERA, 1.120 WHIP, and a 1.80 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’s also finished 35 games including 14 saves while earning sub-2.00 ERAs in each of his last two full seasons.

His devastating downward pitch movement has kept hitters essentially homer-less, arguably the most important quality of his stuff. Britton allowed just five home runs in 105.1 innings while playing half of these outings in the launchpad that is Yankee Stadium.

Not only has Britton pitched beautifully during his time in New York, but his importance was expected to take a step up this season. After a disappointing season from Adam Ottavino and Tommy Kahnle struggling with injuries, the Yankees front office slightly rebuilt the DNA of its bullpen this offseason. Chapman is still the closer. Britton was supposed to be his sidekick. And Chad Green remained the swiss-army-knife high-leverage man. But, the rest looks a little different.

Both Ottavino and Kahnle have found new homes. General Manager Brian Cashman and his team brought in veteran left-hander Darren O’Day in addition to a few familiar faces in Justin Wilson and Adam Warren during the break, all of whom will need to eat up important early-season innings.

It’s likely that Green will slide into the set-up role on the depth chart, but this is an all-hands-on-deck situation. The New York Yankees are a pro-analytics team and should employ a lot of lefty-righty matchups during those late innings.

It’s also important to note the lingering effects of the shortened 2020 campaign. Pitchers all throughout baseball were not able to log a normal season of innings. With a full season scheduled in 2021, every MLB team will be cautious of over-working their pitchers this year. Any pitching injury, let alone an injury to one of your most important relievers, will have heightened consequences in 2021.