THE BRIDGE TO DAVID ROBERTSON

Ever since Mariano Rivera popularized the role in 1996, teams have sought to find one or more relief pitchers on their respective staffs to be setup men. These guys bridge the late innings from the starter to the closer. For the last 4 seasons, that person was David Robertson, who has recorded between 30 and 35 Holds per season over that time. Now the Yankees have penciled in Robertson as the closer for the team, and the question is now around who will fill the gap. In my mind, I think there are two pitchers who could form a very powerful tandem, in the way that Jeff Nelson and Mike Stanton did for Mariano Rivera years ago. Those two pitchers are Dellin Betances and Matt Thornton.

Matt Thornton is a career setup and bridge pitcher, mostly with the White Sox. Since 2006, he has set up Bobby Jenks, Sergio Santos, and Addison Reed to the tune of about 20 Holds per season. He kept his ERA in the 2’s and 3’s for the most part, coming in mostly for the 8th inning, and earned an All-Star appearance in 2010. He appeared in one postseason with the White Sox, and has yet to yield a postseason earned run. At age 37, he is in a position to serve as a veteran mentor to some of the younger Yankees pitchers. Despite his recent Spring Training outings, his history says that he should balance out a nice 8th inning one-two punch.

Meanwhile, Dellin Betances has been on fire since converting to the bullpen. A once-rising future starter, Betances seems to have found a home and settled in to his role as a relief pitcher. Last year, he spent most of his time in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as a relief pitcher, and saw both his ERA and WHIP take a nosedive. His strikeout to walk ratio doubled, and his performance in Spring Training this year has turned some heads. In 8 innings of work scattered across five games, he has given up two hits, two walks, and struck out seven. Granted, he’ll be turning 26 on the 23rd of March, and he has yet to face a high-pressure major league situation, so we’ll still have to see if he can hack it in the 7th and 8th. Nevertheless, the outlook is bright right now.

With the departure of Mariano Rivera, the change of role for David Robertson, and the almost complete overhaul of the Yankees bullpen, the 2014 season should prove to be an interesting and formative year for the Yankees pitching staff. While anything can happen, these two pitchers seem to be the most likely candidates to form the bridge to the closer. Given their pedigree and recent performances, it should be very interesting.

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row



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