The Yankees Bullpen Since the All-Star Break

The Yankees bullpen--beset by bad luck, injuries and just inconsistent pitching--looked awful at the All-Star break. Sure Mariano Rivera was still "The Great Mariano", but the mythological "Bridge to Mariano" looked like it could collapse at any second. But when the All-Star break ended something clicked with the relievers and with the acquisition of Kerry Wood, the Yankees bullpen has looked great since then. Let's take a look at the relievers (and their workload since the Texas series started):

The Yankees "Bridge to Mariano" has gotten stronger since Break (NYDN)

Kerry Wood As a Yankee: 2-0, 6 holds, 0.44 ERA in 20.2 innings with 24 K (to 11 BB), .480 OPS against, 1.190 WPA (Win Probability Added according to Baseball-Reference).

Wood gave up a home run to Toronto's Aaron Hill in his second outing in Pinstripes and has not been scored on since. In fact, that's the only time a run has crossed the plate while Wood as he has inherited 8 runners and none of those have scored either. In September he's allowed 4 baserunners out of the 28 batters he's faced. Oh, and that home run he gave up to Hill was the only extra base hit he's given up in to the 83 batters he's faced as a Yankee. Recent workload (calculated since September 10th): 4 games, 14 batters faced, 50 pitches.

Boone Logan Since A-S Break: 1-0, 7 holds, 0.98 ERA in 18.1 innings with 23 K (to 6 BB), .519 OPS against, 0.397 WPA.

The amazing part is that Logan gave up a run right after the All-Star break on a home-run and a run last night--but none in between, a streak that spanned 25 outings. If you take away those two outings as well, he's been good at not allowing inherited runners to score, only allowed 13% of his 15 to cross home. Logan's biggest problem has been when he hasn't been used against lefties (as shown last night) but as a lefty specialist, he's been deadly holding lefties to a .174/.269/.203 line with one extra base hit in 78 PAs. Recent workload: 4 games, 9 batters faced, 36 pitches.

David RobertsonSince A-S Break: 2-1, 8 holds, 1 save, 1.50 ERA in 24 innings with 31 K (to 12 BB), .575 OPS against, 1.253 WPA.

The man who looked like he was going to be the set-up man in the future towards the end of 2009, finally got past some bad luck/bad performances and has performed extremely well since the All-Star break. Better yet, the team  is 19-6 in games he's pitched since then so he's been an important part of closing the door on the opposition. From July 4th to August 21st, Robertson pitched in 19 games without allowing a run (the Yankees were 17-2 during that stretch when he pitched). Although Robertson has allowed 32% of his 19 inherited runners to score, he's only allowed 4 extra-base hits to his 100 batters faced since the A-S Break. Robertson hasn't suffered a blown save since April. Recent workload: 3 games, 14 batters faced, 65 pitches.

Joba Chamberlain Since A-S Break: 2-0, 6 holds, 1 blown save, 2.92 ERA in 24.2 innings with 24 K (to 7 BB), .647 OPS against, 0.940 WPA.

"Jobber" is a player who seems to attract a mixed range of emotions but he's really calmed down since the All-Star break, dropping his ERA from 5.79 to 4.65. The one blown save (and, as you can see, the one blown save amongst the Yankees' set-up crew) came against Texas a few nights ago. Joba really seems to have settled down after a poor outing against Kansas City on July 25th. The Yankees dropped him from the 8th inning at that point and since then Joba has a 1.83 ERA and a 4.25 SO:BB ratio. Since the All-Star Break, Joba has also been exceptionally good at not allowing inherited runners to score, letting only one of 10 cross home plate. His 3.43 SO:BB ratio over this time is also a good sign for a guy who over the past year or so of baseball has sometimes forgotten he is a strikeout pitcher and been prone to walking guys while nibbling at corners. Joba is best when he's getting swings and misses. Recent workload: 2 games, 8 batters faced, 40 pitches.

Mariano Rivera Since A-S Break: 1-2, 10 saves, 1 blown save, 1.83 ERA in 19.2 innings with 10 K (to 5 BB), .574 OPS against, 0.911 WPA.

Mo can add another 30-save season to his resume thanks to a great run since the All-Star break. His two big blips (August 10th and September 11th) were both losses to Texas, which while not insignificant, is not the worst thing ever, either. The one troubling thing with Rivera has been the control. In 42 games through August 8th, Rivera issued 6 walks and struck out 36 (6 to 1 ratio). In the 13 games since he's walked 5 and struck out only 7. Is this a case of Rivera getting tired or just fluke events that happen during the course of a year? I would think the latter, but successful October Yankees teams have given Rivera some rest down the stretch in September. Here's an awesome stat: Rivera has only one game this season where he's allowed an inherited runner to score. Nasty. Recent workload: 3 games, 16 batters faced, 54 pitches.    

Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre, Jonathan Abaladejo

The other three Yankee relievers. Gaudin has a 3.51 ERA since the All-Star break in 25.2 innings. Mitre had one start post-All-Star break but in relief he's pitched 20 innings and posted a 3.15 ERA. Abaladejo was great in the minors for the Yankees and is a dark-horse candidate to make the post-season roster, sporting a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 Major League innings. Recent workload: Gaudin - 3 games, 14 batters, 61 pitches; Mitre - 1 game, 1 batter, 6 pitches; Abaladejo - 2 games, 8 batters, 32 pitches.

So what are your thoughts? Do you have confidence in this Yankee 'pen? Is there one guy over another you would rather see in the 8th inning or would you like Joe to continue to mix-and-match? Let us know in the comments below