The New York Yankees earned a win against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday as they look to protect a narrow lead in the wild card standings.
At this point, the Yankees have little hope of retaking the American League East division crown but seem likely to avoid the outright catastrophe of missing the playoffs. And as a result, they can start thinking through some roster moves for the postseason.
The Yankees will have some significant playoff roster decisions to make this month but none will be more consequential than their bullpen construction. Despite the addition of several high-leverage arms at the trade deadline, the unit has struggled to close out games. And because of that, the team is projected to move high-octane rookie Cam Schlittler into the relief corps for the postseason and to cut former All-Star closer Camilo Doval off of the playoff roster entirely.
“Carrying Schlittler, (Will) Warren and long-man Ryan Yarbrough means that the likes of Camilo Doval, Mark Leiter Jr., Jake Bird, Yerry De Los Santos, Ian Hamilton and Brent Headrick aren’t on the team,” NJ.com’s Max Goodman wrote in his prediction for the Yankees’ wild card roster. “That would be an unexpected result for the Yankees with Doval and Bird both coming over at the trade deadline this summer, but Doval has been disappointing and unreliable since he was acquired from the (San Francisco) Giants while Bird has been in Triple-A since his miserable first impression in a Yankees uniform.”
When the Yankees overhauled their bullpen at the deadline, they were likely hoping to avoid transitioning a starter into a relief role for the playoffs. But Doval has a 5.87 ERA since landing in the Bronx and the team likely can’t trust him in a playoff game.
As a result, it makes more sense to relegate Schlittler, who has a 3.41 ERA across the first 12 starts of his career. His stuff seems as if it would play well in a high-leverage role as he sports an elite fastball.
With Max Fried, Carlos Rodon and Luis Gil in line to start a wild card playoff series, the Yankees seem to have some extra starters to utilize in relief. And with the bullpen proving to be a disappointment this year, they’ll be leaving some current relievers off of the postseason roster.