A Decade of Relief Pitching Diamonds in the Rough (Pt.1)

by Ethan Levine

August 6, 2026

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NOTE - We welcome our newest writer, Ethan Levine!

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The Yankees’ trade deadline activity was greeted by fans and commentators with mixed reviews, for good reason. 

Adding a first baseman to a team already saddled with two of them (momentarily setting aside the critical fact that Luis Garcia Jr. was arguably the best hitter on the trade block), as well as a corner outfielder in Heliot Ramos, did little to address the needs at catcher and, to a lesser extent, the bullpen. 

While the Yankees have been searching for their cornerstone behind the dish ever since Jorge Posada retired (there was a flash of optimism for a minute that Gary Sanchez would carry them to glory alongside some giant of a kid from Fresno State named Aaron Judge), the silence on the bullpen front this trade deadline was more surprising.  The Yankees have had an unmatched decade of success unearthing relief pitching diamonds from the rough.  

So now, for a nearly complete review of recent Yankees bullpen success stories to help lift my spirits this week…

1. Chad Green: We didn’t know it at the time, but a starting pitcher who had never played above the Double-A level would become the first in a decade-long relief pitching success trend.  The Yankees acquired Green, along with future fellow bullpen staple and spot starter, Luis Cessa, from the Tigers in exchange for lefty shover Justin Wilson.  Reckoning with a lack of starting pitching depth both at the big league level and in the upper levels of the minors, Brian Cashman’s wealth of lefty bullpen arms with high upside seemingly capable of replacing the arbitration-destined Wilson (think of guys like Jacob Lindgren, Chasen Shreve, and James Pazos) convinced the Bronx brass to place a bet on Green.  After a brief big league debut season in 2016 ended due to an elbow injury, Green joined the bullpen for good in 2017.  While appearing in only 40 games that season, he still managed to become one of just eight relief pitchers to strike out at least 100 batters, and his 0.739 WHIP was second best in baseball.  Green remained a fixture in the Yankees’ bullpen until the 2022 season, by which point injury and susceptibility to surrendering the long ball had caught up with him.  Tommy John surgery officially ended his tenure in the Bronx and Green signed north of the border.  Still, his time in pinstripes yielded a respectable 3.17 ERA over 272 appearances.

   
   

2. Michael King: In November 2017, the Yankees were stockpiling international signing bonus dollars in an effort to lure Japanese import Shohei Ohtani (can you imagine?).  They found the Marlins willing to part with some of that extra cash.  In exchange, the Yankees sent major-league ready talent in 1B/RF Garrett Cooper and LHP Caleb Smith back to South Florida.  I should probably mention that, as part of this deal, the Yankees also asked Miami to throw in a Single-A pitcher with solid control and a high strikeout-to-walk ratio named Michael King.  After a rocky 2020 rookie season, King improved his slider thanks to the tutelage of veteran teammate Corey Kluber.  On June 4th, 2021, King threw the seventh immaculate inning in Yankees history and his star was rising.  Pitching around injury stints in 2022 and 2023, King established himself as one of the most effective multi-inning relief weapons in the game.  In 2022 he allowed only 15% of inherited baserunners to score, entering elite status.  King transitioned to being a full-time starter by August 2023, pitching to a 1.88 ERA across eight starts.  While the Yankees expected King to continue primarily as a starter in 2024, prior to the season he ultimately became the key piece in the deal with San Diego that brought Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the Bronx.  

   
   

3. Clay Holmes: Clay Holmes’ Yankees career ended on such a sour note that it can be easy to forget just how good he became out of, seemingly, nowhere.  You probably wouldn’t have found many New Yorkers swearing they knew all about him at the time he was traded from Pittsburgh at the deadline in 2021.  You likely would have found even fewer who were thrilled by the trade once they saw his 5.57 ERA across four seasons with the Pirates, coupled with a walk rate among MLB’s highest.  However, Cashman and co. understood that Holmes was sporting the highest ground ball percentage among all qualifying pitchers that season as well as a plus Sinker.  The Yankees brought Holmes into the lab, tweaked said Sinker, and had him throw it 80.2% of the time in 2022 (his Sinker use percentage hadn’t ever previously been higher than 58.9%).  Holmes rocketed to All-Star status in ‘22, emerging as the Yankees’ closer following an injury to Aroldis Chapman.  He posted a 1.31 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in the first half, arguably the most efficient reliever in the game during that time.  He even surpassed Mariano Rivera’s franchise record 29 consecutive scoreless innings, tossing 31.1.  While Holmes duplicated his All-Star success during the first half of 2024, he inexplicably fell off the proverbial cliff in the second halves of both All-Star seasons, sporting second-half ERAs of 4.84 and a slightly less agonizing 3.75 in ‘22 and ‘24, respectively.  He was still a key piece of the Yankees’ 2024 pennant run before signing a 3-year deal across town the following off-season.

   
   

4. Wandy Peralta: In need of an additional southpaw option in the bullpen, as well as finding themselves with a surplus of outfielders, the Yankees dealt Mike Tauchman to San Francisco in April 2021 for Wandy Peralta (the Yanks also received minor league 1B Connor Cannon in the deal).  Like Holmes, the Yankees saw in Peralta a ground ball-inducing machine waiting in the wings.  They completely overhauled his pitch usage, reinventing him from a primarily four-seam/slider pitcher to a sinker/changeup pitcher.  Just to paint the picture a bit clearer, Peralta went from throwing his 4-seamer nearly 50% of the time in 2017 to throwing it less than 10% of the time throughout his stay in New York.  He subsequently also went from having a positive WAR in only one of his first five full seasons (and just barely) to pitching to a combined 2.5 WAR over 110.1 innings for the Yankees across 2022 and 2023.  Peralta’s 55.5% ground ball percentage was 13th-best among all relievers across those two years combined (Clay Holmes was 2nd).  Following two and a half successful years in pinstripes, the Padres rewarded him with a big payday prior to 2024.

Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow!