{"id":107525,"date":"2025-09-22T01:05:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T05:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=107525"},"modified":"2025-09-22T01:05:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T05:05:21","slug":"yankees-must-rely-on-bullpen-in-october","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/09\/22\/yankees-must-rely-on-bullpen-in-october\/","title":{"rendered":"These Three Yankee Relievers Will Be Vital in October"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the 2025 regular season winds down, the New York Yankees appear to be a solid team that has one major issue: a wildly unstable bullpen<\/a>. Acquiring a two-time former National League Reliever of the Year, Devin Williams<\/a>, in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers last December, this bullpen looked to be even more formidable than it was during New York’s run to the World Series last October. However, this has not been the case; not only has the Williams trade seemingly backfired<\/a>, but most of the moves that the team has made in the ‘pen have been disastrous.<\/p>\n

At the trade deadline, New York acquired three relievers<\/a> in an attempt to patch up the ‘pen. Right-handed reliever David Bednar<\/a>, whom they acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates, has stepped into the closer role and has performed fairly well. Their other acquisitions, Jake Bird<\/a> and Camilo Doval<\/a>, have been completely different pitchers since coming to the Bronx (and it’s not a good kind of different).<\/p>\n

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Aug 9, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher David Bednar (53) reacts after defeating the Houston Astros 5-4 at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yankees Bullpen is Their Biggest Question Mark Heading into October<\/h2>\n

Captain Un-Clutch<\/h3>\n

The easy target to point to for the Yankees’ lack of success in closing out games is obviously Williams, and it’s true that his 5.12 ERA and -0.5 brWAR have cost the Yankees at least a few wins. Williams does not deserve all the blame, though. Their collective bullpen ERA of 4.55 is tied with the Athletics for the 7th-worst in baseball, and they have 41 saves to 21 blown saves. Williams has four blown saves, but so do Luke Weaver<\/a> and Mark Leiter Jr.<\/a> Bednar and Jonathan Lo\u00e1isiga<\/a> aren’t far behind either, with three each. On the bright side, Williams’ solid eighth inning in Sunday’s win over the Baltimore Orioles is hopefully a sign of good things to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Dominant eighth inning by Devin Williams! pic.twitter.com\/xvQbWCz71L<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) September 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n