The Yankees have won 11 in a row, but not all is perfect for New York.
Tuesday’s nail-biting, 5-4 victory over the Braves gave Aaron Boone something to think about during his day off Wednesday: what should he do about the closer’s role moving forward?
The manager faced a similar line of questioning from reporters Tuesday night after Aroldis Chapman, in his third game back from the injured list, recorded just two outs against the six batters he faced. Chapman allowed two hits and two walks, including a bases-loaded free pass to Jorge Soler. That cut Atlanta’s deficit to one.
Unnatural third baseman Rougned Odor did not help Chapman when he failed to throw out a hustling Ozzie Albies with two away, but the fireballer didn’t appear to have faith in his fastball. Chapman walked the fourth batter of the inning, Ehire Adrianza, on four straight heaters. He only threw two total four-seamers in the next two at-bats against Albies and Soler.
Fortunately for Boone, he had Wandy Peralta ready and waiting to continue his 2021 excellence. After a nine-pitch at-bat and five consecutive—and ballsy—changeups, the early-season pickup got Freddie Freeman to fly out.
The Yankees escaped another down-to-the-wire ballgame with a win, but not without lingering issues surrounding the closer’s role.
“We’ve got to figure it out,” Boone said afterward. “The bottom line is, a lot of people are doing some really good things down there and Chappy’s going to be one of them, too. We’ve just gotta continue to find ways to win games. And it really is just a little bit of an ‘all hands on-deck, let’s go find a way.’ A lot of guys continue to step up.”
Chapman, who lost his closing job earlier this season, has been removed from the ninth inning in two of his three outings since returning from elbow inflammation. The game he finished and pitched well in, Monday’s series opener against the Braves, was not a save situation. Perhaps the southpaw needs time to build up for back-to-backs, but Chapman has endured peaks and valleys following a dominating start to the season that saw him surrender just one earned run through his first 23 games.
His ERA in the 23 games since is 8.05.
That number is inflated by a disastrous June, and Chapman pitched well in his last 11 appearances before hitting the I.L. (0.82 ERA). But his most recent struggles have forced Boone to operate with a short leash (it didn’t take long for Peralta to start warming up on Tuesday). Other Yankees relievers, meanwhile, have been effective when called upon.
Peralta, Jonathan Loáisiga, Chad Green, Lucas Luetge and Albert Abreu all have at least one save during the Yankees’ winning streak. Chapman does not. Green, Luetge and Abreu have not been flawless, but every member of the quintet has a sub-3.00 ERA in their last 10 outings, if not more. Loáisiga allowed just one earned run over that span, while Peralta has allowed zero.
With Chapman—and Zack Britton—hurt and struggling over that stretch, the Yankees’ other relievers have kept things together despite the team playing nerve-wracking games on a seemingly nightly basis.
So are the Yankees in a closer by committee situation at this point?
“I don’t know,” Boone said when asked that exact question. “We just won a big game and a lot of people are doing a lot of great things, so we’ll figure it out.”
If that’s Boone’s answer to that question, it sounds like the manager already has things squared away.
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