The Yankees’ bullpen has a little bit of everything. It has All-Star fireballers, sinker specialists, a splitter maestro, a couple of guys who rely on finesse rather than pure stuff, a pitch-to-contact lefty, and a few flawed, but talented arms vying for a couple of spots. It’s not hard to see that a few guys, barring an unexpected turn of events, have a spot locked up already. This is the case of David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Fernando Cruz, and Tim Hill. One has to think that Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn will be in there, as well.
After that, there are as many as six or seven pitchers with at least an outside chance of making the roster, not to mention the fact that the team usually takes a long look at the post-spring training cuts to add names, as well. The likes of Jake Bird, Cade Winquest, Kervin Castro, Osvaldo Bido, Ángel Chivilli, Brent Headrick, and Yerry De Los Santos are actively competing to see who makes the roster, and most of them are looking good if we combine their offseason, their early-camp work, and the first few days of Grapefruit League games.
It’s still February, though, so it’s too early to even think about who makes the roster of this group and who gets left behind. What we are seeing, however, is that at least a couple of interesting names from that list could be on the outside looking.
Just because of the assets invested in them, one can conclude that Winquest, as a Rule 5 Draft pick, and Bird and Chivilli, as trade pieces that required the organization to give away prospects, could have a leg up in the competition. It’s important not to rule out a guy like Headrick, though, owner of a 3.13 ERA and 30 strikeouts in just 23 innings with the Bombers last year. His swing-and-miss stuff could definitely boost the Yankees’ bullpen and give it another lefty to complement Hill.
Yes, there is still the feeling that the Yankees are one or two quality relievers short of boasting a high-flying bullpen, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t talented hurlers in the organization with enough juice to win a spot and contribute.
Bird himself is a solid bounce-back candidate after last year’s disaster, and he has thrown 2.1 scoreless innings this spring with no walks and three strikeouts. Chivilli has big fastball velocity and two breaking balls, his changeup and slider, that had a whiff rate over 40 percent last year. Sometimes, it’s a matter of bringing in guys one or two adjustments away from unlocking the full extent of their potential, and Chivilli could be that guy.
And if the Grapefruit League ends and the Yankees are still not happy with their group of arms for the bullpen, they can always review other teams’ cuts and bring in a useful pitcher. That’s exactly how they got Yarbrough last year, and he went on to put up a 4.36 ERA in 64 frames in 2025 with long stints of dominance. On top of it all, the Yankees’ relief corps could also get some reinforcements in the form of starters, if and when Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt rejoin the rotation. The first two are expected back in April, while Schmidt is more of a second-half play.
Other unexpected names might join the bullpen mix eventually, such as Carlos Lagrange. Yes, pitching coach Matt Blake revealed on Wednesday that moving him to relief is a possibility later down the road.
There are multiple avenues for a great bullpen, and having several talented guys taking the ball in spring training and showing off the improvements they made in the postseason in a healthy competition is definitely one of them. The Yankees may not have a top-five bullpen this year, but internal competition is strong and that’s always a positive.
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