Giancarlo Stanton has mashed lefties this season. Which made Nationals manager Dave Martinez’s decision to stick with southpaw Sammy Solis so strange.
Washington trailed 3-2 in the seventh inning Monday with a runner on second and two outs. Solis was trying to work around Stanton, although there was another righty, Gleyber Torres, on deck. Solis left a 3-0 changeup over the plate and Stanton crushed an RBI double, 111.7 mph to left-center to provide an insurance run.
About the same time, the Nationals were finalizing a trade for Royals closer Kelvin Herrera. Should that exact situation happen again, it might be Herrera in the game. In 2018 that would have to be the World Series.
The Yankees returned from Washington to the Bronx to play the Mariners, who in late May obtained Rays closer Alex Colome.
The Nationals and Mariners made big trades earlier in the calendar than is usual, both grabbing closers to work in non-closer situations, both looking to do what the Yankees already have done — form a long, super bullpen.
“It feels really good to have a lot of good pitchers down there [in the bullpen],” Aaron Boone said.
It is no surprise the Yankees have depth and excellence out of the pen. That was the expectation and they lead the majors in relief Wins Above Replacement by a good distance at 4.8 to the second-place Astros’ 3.7. But the pen is probably better than anticipated. It just might be among the best ever.
Opposing hitters were batting .199 against Yankees relievers entering the Mariners series — the fifth-lowest mark in the live ball era (since 1920). Yankees relievers were whiffing one out of every three batters faced. The 33 percent is the best ever. The second best is the 2018 Astros’ 30.1 percent. The Yankees from 2014-18 actually own five of the 15 best strikeout rates ever.
The Yankees had built the majors’ best winning percentage by essentially getting a start that keeps them in the game — with ace Luis Severino doing even more than that — and then Boone unleashing multiple options to dominate over the final 6-12 outs.
In Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Chad Green, Jonathan Holder and David Robertson, the Yankees have five of the top 34 relievers in Fangraphs WAR. No other team had more than three in the top 40. That does not include Adam Warren, a valuable, versatile arm, just recently off the disabled list. Even lefty Chasen Shreve, the least effective/trustworthy of the regularly used group, was averaging 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
It is within reason the Yanks might add a lefty setup man before the July 31 trade deadline — they tried, for example, to sign Tony Watson (who went to the Giants) in the offseason. Boone, though, cited “never feeling the need to match up” as central to the relief success. Righties Betances, Holder and Robertson, in particular, do well against lefties.
The Yankees also have not given up on trying to improve internally. They are trying to revive Tommy Kahnle at Triple-A. And if they can land a starter in the trade market, it is not hard to imagine them re-purposing Domingo German (who started Tuesday night) in the Warren/Ramiro Mendoza Swiss Army Knife role, with the potential of what his stuff could play up in the pen.
But it is not like the current group needs much help. Boone said he is concerned about the number of appearances his main guys are accumulating. That is a reflection of attacking games following short starts. But also the generally good health and good work of the pen — and I actually think Boone has done a good job of distributing the work.
That allocation has been particularly valuable in the last few weeks as the Yankees offense has been mainly subdued. In the past 13 games going into Tuesday, the Yankees had scored four or fewer runs 11 times — and in one of the games in which they exceeded four, the Yanks were shut out through six innings. Yet, the Yanks were 9-4 in that period. For the season, they were 18-18 when scoring four or fewer runs — the only team in the majors at .500 or better (the Mets, by comparison, were 12-33).
The bullpen’s ability to suffocate lineups late has enabled the Yanks to win even when their power-fueled attack is quieted. That reflects Chapman pitching as well as ever, Betances and Robertson recovering from problematic starts, Green showing last year was no fluke and Holder emerging as a trusted alternative.
“There are so many different guys I can turn to,” Boone said.
It is a luxury and a weapon and just about every other contender is trying to match it.