Chatelain: Slow Down The Yankees Bullpen Hype Train
By Ryan Chatelain
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It's easy to look at the back end of the Yankees' bullpen and become intrigued, if not floored.
On paper, it's a lethal trio of proven relievers who regularly test the limits of a Jugs gun.
You have right-hander Dellin Betances, who has averaged 87 innings and posted a 1.45 ERA over the past two seasons while firing a fastball that tops out around 101.
You have lefty Andrew Miller, who throws in the high 90s and in his first season as a closer won the American League Reliever of the Year Award in 2015.
And of course, there's the newly acquired Aroldis Chapman, a southpaw who is a rock star among closers, thanks to his 104 mph heater. Manager Joe Girardi has already handed him ninth-inning duties.
They haven't even played in a spring training game together and they're already being compared to the "Nasty Boys" of Norm Charlton, Rob Dibble and Randy Myers, who helped propel the Cincinnati Reds to a world championship in 1990.
Others have boldly dared to suggest the Yanks' bullpen could end up being the best baseball has ever seen.
Woh! Can we rein it in just a smidge?
I can't help but think this scenario has a chance to be "The Phantom Menace" or "The Godfather Part III" of bullpens – far too much hype to ever live up to.
Don't get me wrong, there's no knocking any of these three pitchers. They each have the skills and stats to warrant the excitement.
And maybe Yankees fans are just hungry for something, anything to latch on to as they try to get stoked about the upcoming season because the number of free agent signings – zero – and the aging roster don't exactly cry out "vast improvement."
But I keep going back to this question: How much better does the addition of Chapman really make the Bronx Bombers?
As overpowering as he is, he's still human. Is the ninth inning really going to be locked down any more so than it was in 2015 when Miller was closing? Chapman had 33 saves and three blown saves last season in Cincinnati, a .917 percentage. Miller successfully closed out 36 of 38 opportunities, a .947 percentage.
And the impact of Chapman, Miller and Betances will be marginalized if the Yankees can't hand them a lead after six innings.
The truth of the matter is the Bombers had a middle-of-the-road team ERA last season, a number that benefited from the fact that Miller, Betances, Justin Wilson and others were so solid out of the pen.
The starters, meanwhile, left much to be desired. Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovladi and CC Sabathia's ERAs were all on the wrong side of 4.00, Ivan Nova's on the wrong side of 5.00. And practically every hurler vying for a spot in the rotation this spring with the exception of Luis Severino is no stranger to the disabled list.
Then there's the Yankees' lineup, which outscored every team in the AL last season except for Toronto but faded like an old pair of blue jeans down the stretch, much in the way you would expect an older team to do. This season, the starting lineup will feature more players 35 or older (three) than in their 20s (two) – at least on days when everyone is healthy, which is asking a lot with this unit.
It's an issue the Nasty Boys never had to worry about – all eight starting position players for the 1990 Reds were in their 20s.
You don't have to squint your eyes too much to see a scenario where the Yankees don't even hold on to Chapman, Miller and Betances into August. Injuries were a problem for the Bombers last year, and if they creep up again this season, the Yankees might look to parlay their bullpen excess into a starting pitcher, hitter or prospect.
Case in point: Yankees general manager Brian Cashman admitted in November he was willing to listen to offers for Miller -- and that was before Chapman entered the picture. So why wouldn't he entertain the thought of moving Miller or Betances, who would have value to other teams as potential closers, if some other need arises?
And then of course, there's the not-so-insignificant matter of whether Chapman might be hit with a lengthy suspension under Major League Baseball's new domestic violence policy.
Girardi said Thursday he believes this year's version of the Yankees is better "on paper" than the one we saw at the end of last season, which ended in disappointment at the hands of the Houston Astros in the wild-card round.
But he added, "Paper doesn't really mean anything until you go out and compete."
He's absolutely right.
The Yankees have baseball's best bullpen on paper. And just maybe they'll have baseball's best bullpen in reality.
It is indeed something to look forward to.
Let's just not get too carried away by already assigning them their place in history.
Follow Ryan on Twitter at @ryanchatelain