I know I said I was going to discuss the Yankee bullpen in my next post, but this article does so much better than I ever could, so I am just going to refer you to it. I will just make a few observations here.

Adding Devin Williams is probably the best move of the off-season IMO. Clay Holmes was, statistically, a decent reliever, but his 13 blown saves last season proved to be too much to take. Luke Weaver was effective in the closer role, but apparently the Yankee brain trust seems to believe he slots in better as a set-up guy who can throw multiple late innings. Devin Williams appears to have a genuine closer mentality with great swing-and-miss stuff, so his addition is a positive move all around.

The article does talk a lot about “swing and miss” stuff, and that a bullpen with more of those types of relievers is a better bullpen than one that pitches to weak contact. Apart from the recently signed LHP Tim Hill (the Yankee’s only lefty in the pen), all the other guys profile high swing-and-miss stuff. I am not sure this is such a good idea, as the potential for injuries is so much greater with hard throwers, and they have to be used judiciously. Aaron Boone (who I think is a terrible in-game manager btw), doesn’t use his bullpen well (again, IMO), as he employs a “circle of trust” and likes to pitch two or three guys over and over. That just leads to burnout and injury.

I would also point out that the Yankee defense was very poor last year, and something the team has addressed with Goldschmidt at 1B and Bellinger in CF. If you build a bullpen with pitchers who pitch to weak contact (again, Tim Hill) you need a strong defense to make that work most effectively. I prefer a mix of hard throwers with soft tossers who are adept at getting ground ball out because I think that leads to a healthier and more varied bullpen. I don’t think an extreme approach in either direction is the way to go. Variety, giving hitters different looks, keeping them off-balance and constantly changing their timing will result in lower BA against in the last three innings of any game. So while I think the Yankee bullpen has been improved, the focus on hard-throwing “swing-and-miss” guys may come back to bite them in the ass late in the season.