By Greg Corcoran

The arrival of Matt Blake with the New York Yankees has been one of the best things to happen to the organization in the past decade. Coupled with Sam Briend, the duo has been able to transform the Yankees organization to a pitching factory. One of Blake’s greatest skills is turning seemingly ordinary relievers into studs. Recent examples of this are Clay Holmes, Ian Hamilton, and Ron Marinaccio.

It seems like a foregone conclusion that he’ll continue this trend in 2024, but with the talent present on the roster he may not have much work to do.

Clay Holmes is entrenched as the closer. While he has had some tough moments in pinstripes, all closers experience this from time to time. Most importantly, Holmes seems to get it together when it matters most.

There are several players who will be competing for a setup role with Wandy Peralta’s departure. Aaron Boone could use any combination of Tommy Kahnle, Jonathan Loaisiga, and new arrivals Caleb Ferguson and Victor Gonzalez in the role. Regardless of which direction he goes, there will be a litany of options.

Behind them are more quality relievers. They also have Ian Hamilton, Nick Ramirez, Ron Marinaccio, Luke Weaver, Cody Poteet, and recent acquisition Cody Morris on the 40-man roster. All of these players have qualities that could allow magician Matt Blake to turn them into effective major league relievers. The Yankees also just traded for lefty Clayton Andrews, who has a mid-90’s fastball, a nasty changeup, and also throws a slider.

By midseason, there will be reinforcements coming if needed. Scott Effross will make his return from back to back surgeries and the recently signed Lou Trivino will be back sometime this summer as well.

There is enough talent on the 40-man roster to put together yet another high-quality bullpen in 2024, but the depth does not end there.

In what now seems like a yearly tradition, the Yankees have acquired several relievers to stash in Triple-A and be ready to help when injuries strike.

Anthony Misiewicz had some promising appearances before the scary injury that ended his season. He will look to pick up where he left off in 2024. The Yankees picked up Yerry De Los Santos, Art Warren, and Kervin Castro in the offseason to supplement their depth.

Will Warren, Clayton Beeter, Yoendrys Gomez, or Luis Gil will begin the year as starters in Triple-A and could be used in the major leagues as relievers if a need arises. All four could be capable of filling the Randy Vasquez and Jhony Brito role which is now vacant.

The Yankees also have lefty Edgar Barclay, who made it all the way to Triple-A as soft-tossing lefties and could be called upon at any point to eat some innings.

The three-headed monster of Danny Watson, Jack Neely, and Bailey Dees could make a push this year for major league innings as well. Each of them can hit the upper-90’s and are above 6-foot-7. They are exciting future options for the Yankees’ bullpen.

The minor league system features some other exciting relievers as well. High-velocity reliever Luis Velasquez will likely get significant time in Double-A this year. Spin rate darling Harrison Cohen should also spend most of the season there.

Yorlin Calderon, Sebastian Keane, Mason Vinyard, Geoffrey Gilbert, and Osiel Rodriguez are relievers on the rise who will likely be featured in the High-A bullpen.

Eric Reyzelman, Brian Hendry, Kevin Stevens, and Cade Austin are some names to watch in Low-A this year, and the list goes on. As great as all of this sounds, I still haven’t even mentioned all of the starters below Triple-A who could transition to the bullpen later on. These types often turn out to be some of the best relievers in the league (see Dellin Betances).

As long as Matt Blake and Sam Briend are around, the Yankees will be in a great position to continue churning out high end relievers who make a major league impact. There’s no end in sight. For the foreseeable future, the Yankees will be fortunate to have a group that protects leads and keeps them in games. That’s all you can ask for in a bullpen.

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After the 2023 season the Yankees had a Wandy Peralta void to fill. Peralta has been rock solid and has given the Yankees stability in the late innings. He served as their best lefty reliever for several years. Many wanted the Yankees to bring him back after the season, but the Yankees instead traded for Victor Gonzalez, which likely allows them to spend more money on other needs. As it stands, the Yankees have three lefty relievers on the 40-man roster. Aside from Gonzalez, the other two are Nick Ramirez and Matt Krook.

Ramirez had a career year under the tutelage of Matt Blake, with a 2.66 ERA. It was far and away the best year of his career at the age of 33, which was a great story. There is hope that he can sustain this success, however it’s no guarantee.

Matt Krook dominated Triple-A last year but got roughed up during his major league debut. He let up 11 runs in just 4.0 innings. It’s tough to rely on him next year to give significant innings at a high level.

The Yankees made an under-the-radar move that gave them depth at the position. They brought back Anthony Misiewicz on a minor league deal. It was scary to see Misiewicz get hit in the head with a comebacker in September. After some promising appearances, he missed the rest of the season as a result. All of the thoughts and prayers seemed to have been answered, and Anthony made a full recovery and is back to baseline.

While Misiewicz’s career numbers will not inspire confidence, there is reason to believe the Yankees found something in him that will result in a breakout in 2024 if he gets an opportunity. A quick look at his pitch selection before and after he joined the Yankees shows that he drastically increased the use of his cutter immediately after the Yankees picked him up. This cutter averages 89-90 mph and has around 30 inches of vertical break with six inches of horizontal movement.

He also decreased usage of the four-seam fastball that had been getting hit hard and scrapped his slider. He instead focused on the cutter and his curveball, which has excellent vertical movement.

These changes resulted in an immediate improvement in his performance, though the sample size was small. Couple this with the fact that Misiewicz had not yet had a chance to work with Matt Blake, and you have the ingredients for another reliever breakout for the Yankees.

Misiewicz’s four-seam fastball seems like an obvious place for Blake to have an impact. He has good enough velocity on the pitch, sitting 93-94 mph. The pitch lacks movement, which is why it was hit hard last year. If Blake can help him get more movement on the four-seam fastball or develop a two-seamer this offseason, Misiewicz could take his game to the next level.

The Yankees have become a factory churning out good relievers every season since Matt Blake’s arrival. Anthony Misiewicz could be the next player to make that jump, and I am excited to have him back in the organization.

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