THE BRONX, N.Y. — David Bednar is four-for-four in save opportunities to start the 2026 season. That is the good news.
The rest of the picture is not as clean.
The Yankees closer has needed 33 pitches to record three outs. He has allowed baserunners in every single appearance. His ERA sits at 4.15. His WHIP stands at a concerning 2.31. And in each of his last two outings, he has come dangerously close to letting games slip away before finding a way to shut the door.
None of this has cost the Yankees a win yet. But in a city where the margin for error in October is razor-thin, questions are already surfacing about whether Bednar can hold up over a full 162-game season as New York’s primary closer.
It is a fair question. And the early evidence, while limited, is worth watching closely.
The numbers that are raising flags
Through four appearances and four innings of work, Bednar has posted numbers that would concern any front office. The 4.15 ERA and 2.31 WHIP are not the profile of a lockdown closer. A WHIP above 2.00 means Bednar is allowing more than two baserunners per inning, which is an unusually high rate for a pitcher trusted to protect leads in the ninth.
His most recent outing, Saturday night’s save against the Miami Marlins in a 9-7 Yankees win, required 33 pitches just to retire three batters. He surrendered one run on three hits and one walk. All three hits were singles. The inning stretched long enough that the 44,150 fans in attendance grew genuinely nervous about a lead that had been hard-earned through a wild comeback.
Bednar’s last two appearances have been eventful, with two runs allowed on six hits across just 2.1 innings combined. He threw so many pitches Saturday that he was considered unlikely to be available for Sunday’s series finale against Miami.
A closer who cannot pitch on back-to-back days is a liability. That fact is not lost on the Yankees.
The Seattle series gave the same warning signs
The Marlins game was not a one-time blip. In the Yankees’ series finale against the Seattle Mariners the previous weekend, Bednar ran into similar trouble.
He gave up a run on three hits in that appearance as well, needing multiple pitches to work through traffic before finally getting the final out. It was a save, but it was not clean. The pattern of baserunners and high pitch counts in consecutive outings is what is drawing attention from fans and analysts alike.
Two back-to-back messy saves do not define a career. But they do ask a question: Is this a temporary rough patch, or is it a window into how Bednar will handle the grind of a full season as the Yankees’ closer?
Bednar’s track record carries weight, but so does the context
To understand why these early struggles matter, it helps to know where Bednar came from.
He was one of the best closers in the National League during his time with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He made back-to-back All-Star appearances in 2022 and 2023, and in that second year he led the entire NL with 39 saves. He owns a career ERA of 3.16, which reflects real, sustained quality over multiple seasons.
The Yankees acquired him from Pittsburgh during the 2025 trade deadline. He was solid for New York down the stretch and into the postseason, picking up his first playoff save as part of a run that ended with the Yankees losing to the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS. The front office felt strongly enough in him to sign him to a one-year, $9 million deal for 2026, announced in January.
But here is the context that matters: Bednar has never pitched a full season in the Bronx. His Yankees experience amounts to two months in 2025 and eight games in the postseason. The regular-season grind of pitching in New York, under the daily scrutiny that comes with the job, is a different animal.
The bullpen was a recurring problem for the Yankees throughout much of 2025, both before and after the trade deadline. The hope heading into 2026 was that a full offseason would allow the relief corps to settle and find its footing. Four games in, that hope is being tested.
Doval adding to bullpen concerns
Bednar is not the only Yankees reliever drawing attention for the wrong reasons.
Camilo Doval, who was brought in to add depth to the back end of the bullpen, has been shelled in two straight appearances. In Saturday’s win over Miami, Doval entered in the eighth with a lead and surrendered two runs on three hits, including a two-run double from Javier Sanoja that briefly tied the game at six apiece.
The Yankees won despite Doval’s struggles, not because of him. Giancarlo Stanton’s bases-loaded single in the bottom of the eighth bailed out the bullpen and gave the team a lead it held on to.
But two relievers both struggling to hold leads in consecutive games is the definition of a pattern. The Yankees’ offense is talented enough to absorb some of that damage. The question is whether it can afford to do so when the games mean more.
What the Yankees need from Bednar going forward
The Yankees are 7-1. The record is excellent. The rotation has been dominant. The lineup is deep. None of that changes the fact that a closer with a 2.31 WHIP needs to get cleaner, and quickly.
Bednar himself knows it.
“Definitely a very frustrating [inning], but that’s baseball,” he said after Saturday’s outing against Miami. “Balls are going to find holes, and sometimes you put yourself in those spots. But I think ultimately, it’s pretty black and white, you do the job or not. Just all about finding a way.”
The saves are coming. Bednar has not blown one yet in 2026. His career track record is real and his ability to work through trouble is clearly still there.
But a closer who routinely walks the tightrope, who regularly forces his team to hold its breath in the ninth, is a vulnerability waiting to be exposed. The Yankees have championship aspirations. They need Bednar to be a shutdown presence, not a white-knuckle ride.
Eight games in, he has not been that. The next month of baseball will go a long way toward answering whether that is a slow start or a real problem.
Waht do you think? Who should the Yankees deploy as their alternative closer?
