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Bullpen Proving To Be An Early Strength For Yankees

By Chris McKeown
Apr. 19, 2012; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Mariano Rivera (42) pitches during the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium. Yankees won 7-6. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE
Apr. 19, 2012; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Mariano Rivera (42) pitches during the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium. Yankees won 7-6. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

I got around to thinking about how effective the bullpen has been through two weeks of the 2012 season and decided to compare what the starting rotation has done vs. the bullpen.

The results are a bit surprising...

For the starting rotation in 2012: 74 IP, 93 H, 46 ER, 5.59 ERA, 72 SO, 15 HR

Scarily enough, Yankee starters have allowed at least one home run in 11 of 13 games this season. One would hope that rate will soon regress.

For the bullpen in 2012:

Total: 45 IP, 32 H, 9 ER, 1.80 ERA, 21 BB, 56 SO, 2 HR

We've heard for a while now that the bullpen is arguably the biggest strength of this Yankee team, and that's looking about right at this point. If not for an essentially lights out bullpen when push comes to shove, the Yankees would likely be peering into the eyes of a sub-.500 record. The bullpen has a chance of becoming even stronger if/when Joba Chamberlain finally returns from the disabled list.

Hopefully Ivan Nova can improve on his last two stars with a quality start this afternoon at Fenway Park.

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