ALDS: Yankees, Indians clash in battle of baseball’s best bullpens

Gary Phillips

ALDS: Yankees, Indians clash in battle of baseball’s best bullpens image

Twenty-six.

That's the number of outs Joe Girardi required from his bullpen Tuesday night against the Twins in the Wild Card game. Yankees ace Luis Severino, pitching in his first postseason start at just 23 years old, gave up two homers and three runs in the first inning before his skipper removed him. With New York’s season on the line, Girardi wasn’t taking any chances.

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He pushed all the right buttons, getting 8.2 innings of one-run baseball from the quartet of Chad Green, David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle and Aroldis Chapman. While the Yankees’ offense exploded for eight runs off the Twins’ own faulty pitching, it was the bullpen that stopped the bleeding, provided treatment and healed the gash Severino left behind.

It was an all-around brilliant effort, but also one the Yankees are built to execute in such dire circumstances. With Twins starter Ervin Santana struggling too, Girardi knew his relievers could outduel an inferior Minnesota pen.

Thanks in part to that all-time relief performance, the Yankees now get to face the Indians, winners of 102 games and last year’s American League champs, in the ALDS. But unlike Minnesota, Cleveland’s pitching staff is as formidable as it comes, especially its bullpen. In fact, the Indians are the only team in the AL whose cache of relievers can stack up with New York’s. These are baseball’s best bullpens, and it'll be fascinating to watch how these relievers factor into the upcoming series.

Just last year, the Indians were “bullpenning” their way to the World Series, including heavy use of former Yankee Andrew Miller. Manager Terry Francona showed zero hesitation in using his best relievers no matter the inning or situation. That formula didn’t change in 2017, as the Indians boasted one of the major’s top two relief corps.

The only bullpen that was more valuable was New York's.

Per Fangraphs, New York’s relievers combined for a 9.2 WAR, enough to best the Indians’ 8.6 mark and that of every other team. Here's a further breakdown of the two squads:

  IP K/9 BB/9 ERA FIP AVG WHIP
Yankees 538.1 (21st) 10.92 (1st) 3.76 (19th) 3.34 (3rd) 3.37 (2nd) .201 (1st) 1.16 (3rd)
Indians 489.1 (29th) 10.08 (4th) 2.74 (2nd) 2.89 (1st) 3.20 (1st) .223 (5th) 1.14 (1st)

There are two numbers here that should concern the Yankees.

The first is that BB/9 number. Overall, New York’s relievers have been as good as it gets, but certain individuals have had erratic stretches here and there. The Yankees have blown more games late than the numbers above would suggest, and walks are a huge reason why.

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Green and Robertson combined for three walks Tuesday, which could've led to trouble.

On the flip side, the Indians hardly walk anyone. While they may trail the Yankees in areas such as opponents' average and K/9, they’re not issuing free passes. Usually, it’s not a big deal when they let up a hit or two, hence the superior ERA, FIP and WHIP. In other words, Cleveland isn’t creating jams for itself.

The other number that should concern the Yankees is the amount of innings pitched by the Indians' bullpen. It’s lower than the number pitched by New York’s pen, meaning Cleveland isn’t as dependent on its bullpen, as nasty as it is.

With a rotation featuring Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer and likely Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, the Indians don’t have to be. Starters Danny Salazar and Mike Clevinger will join Cleveland’s ALDS bullpen (Miller, Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw, Joe Smith and Tyler Olson), by the way.

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While both rotations have flaws, the Yankees’ is a little less predictable — see Severino’s last start. Sonny Gray has been terrific for the most part, but after that New York has some concerns. As great as CC Sabathia has been this year, he’s made it past the sixth inning just once in his past 15 starts. Any day he’s on the mound typically means three to four innings of work for the bullpen.

Masahiro Tanaka, meanwhile, has been a wild card all season.

It really doesn’t matter who is starting for the Yankees, though. Girardi is going to have a quick hook and depend on his litany of relievers. That’s what he has done all season, it’s what has worked, it’s what has gotten New York this far. However, winning a battle of the bullpens won’t be nearly as easy against Cleveland as it was against the Twins.

That means the Yankees will have to be near perfect in all other facets if they hope to pull off an upset this series.

Gary Phillips