NEW YORK — The Angels series is over. The Yankees split it 2-2, and that is a more flattering outcome than the week deserved. They were one Jordan Romano meltdown away from a nine-game losing streak. They enter Friday’s home opener against the Kansas City Royals at 10-9, having lost seven of their last nine games.
The Yankees problems that surfaced this week did not disappear with the final out Thursday. They walked into the clubhouse with the team and they will be in the dugout Friday night when Cam Schlittler faces Michael Wacha.
The Yankees bullpen is unreliable past its top five. The Yankees offense is hovering around .214 as a team. Baserunning mistakes and infield defensive miscues have cost the Yankees runs in multiple games. The urgency is real.
A bullpen built on a shaky foundation
Before the season started, Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake was asked about the state of the bullpen. He acknowledged the uncertainty directly. The comment carried more weight now than it did in March.
“I think it has the attributes to be a good bullpen,” Blake said during spring training. “There’s some unproven commodities out there that have to step up but have the ability to do it. I think it’s on us to put them in position to succeed early so they can gain confidence and then grow into the roles as they go.”
Through 19 games, the growth has been uneven at best.
The Yankees’ team bullpen ERA sits around 3.75, which ranks 13th in the majors. That number looks acceptable on paper. The breakdown underneath it is the real story.
Yankees closer David Bednar has a 4.70 ERA and five saves. His Yankees fastball velocity is down nearly 2 mph from his breakout season. The drop in velocity has led directly to a drop in swing-and-miss numbers. He has been used in seven of the team’s first 15 games, a heavy workload that signals Boone does not trust what is behind him.
Camilo Doval has a 7.36 ERA in 7.1 innings. He has avoided walks, which is a positive sign. But he has been hit hard, and his early-season struggles have placed even more weight on Bednar’s workload.
Brent Headrick and Tim Hill have been the bright spots. Headrick leads all MLB relievers in appearances. Cruz and Hill are each inside the top 25. The overuse of those arms is a symptom of the problem beneath them.
The drop-off after the top five is severe
This is the heart of the Yankees bullpen issue. After Bednar, Doval, Fernando Cruz, Hill and Headrick, the options are unreliable.
Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough are long men who cannot be trusted in high-leverage situations. Jake Bird was optioned to the minors earlier this week. His spot has turned into a revolving door, with Yerry De los Santos and Angel Chivilli rotating in.
Chivilli made his Yankees debut Thursday. He lasted 0.2 innings, gave up a Mike Trout solo homer on three consecutive changeups to the same location, walked two batters, and was pulled before completing an inning. That is not a high-leverage option. That is a mop-up arm.
The Yankees front office chose not to sign a free-agent reliever this offseason, even after losing Devin Williams and Luke Weaver to the New York Mets. Both had their limitations, but both occupied high-leverage roles in 2025. Their departures created a chain reaction that has left the bullpen thin past its top tier.
Aaron Boone acknowledged the problem after Thursday’s loss. The Yankees allowed 14 runs in the Angels series bullpen. Boone was direct about what the back-end arms need to do.
“There’s opportunity for these guys to continue to grab roles,” Boone said. “Hopefully, some real key people emerge for us.”
The offense has not shown up consistently either
The bullpen is the loudest alarm. But it is not the only one.
The Yankees are hitting .211 as a team through 19 games, ranking 27th in the majors. The bottom third of the lineup has been particularly damaging. Ryan McMahon is at .114. Jose Caballero is at .146. Trent Grisham is at .133.
Former Yankee Oswald Peraza torched New York for five hits this week. McMahon, his replacement at third base, has five hits all season. That comparison stings on its own.
The two Yankees wins against the Angels came on Romano blown saves in the ninth inning. They were gifts. The Yankees did not earn those wins through sustained offensive pressure. They caught lightning twice. That is not a repeatable formula.
Boone was asked about the team’s situation after the series and offered a comment that captured both the confidence and the concern the clubhouse is navigating.
“I know we’ll hit our stride,” Boone said. “I feel good about where we’re going to go, and we’re doing some of the right things, but we’ve got to put it together now.”
What the Yankees have internally and what is still months away
The internal options for bullpen help are limited but real.
Carlos Lagrange and Yovanny Cruz are pitching well in the minors. Both have overpowering fastballs and strikeout profiles. Neither is expected to be called up imminently, but both represent options for later in the season.
When Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon return, the Yankees could move two current starters to the bullpen. Ryan Weathers and Will Warren are seen as capable of transitioning to relief roles. That restructuring could stabilize the group considerably. But it is not available yet.
Cole begins his Double-A rehab assignment Friday at Somerset. He is expected to throw around 40 pitches. Friday starts his 30-day window to be activated. He and the team have targeted a return in late May or early June.
Rodon will throw live batting practice Saturday. If that goes well, he starts a rehab assignment Thursday. Three minor league starts under a normal five-day schedule would put him in line to start for the Yankees around May 8 against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Until those two names arrive, the Yankees must find a way to hold together a bullpen that gave up 14 runs in four days. That Yankees task starts Friday night in the Bronx against a Royals team that is 7-12 and also searching for answers.
What do you think? Who can resolve the Yankees’ bullpen crisis?
