The Pinstriped Baseball Lane

  In my eyes, the Yankees have depth because everyone understands the idea of “passing the baton”. One guy who I believe doesn’t get enough credit for his work is Chad Green.  I mean, do you know how hard it is to be handed a lead or a close game that your starting pitcher worked to get, then the pressure is on you to limit additional runs?  That is a tough task, but I have seen it done before. Reliever, Chad Green, has been an assets to the New York Yankees.

  As a Yankee fan, anytime Green comes into the game from the bullpen, I say the following:

  “The ‘Green Light’ Just Got Switched On In The Yankees’ Bullpen.”

  As Yankee and baseball followers, we should all know by now that each team has/have asset(s).  All Yankee fans know by now that the bullpen is an essential asset to the ball-club.  To me, the main reason why the Yankees can utilize the bullpen so effectively is because of their “set-up man” role.  On any give night you have a different starter, who may or may not be impactful.  So what happens if manager Aaron Boone  can’t depend on his starter to go 4-5 innings.  Well, he has turn to that “set-up man” position for help. In other words, the pitcher that he can call upon to link that gap.  For Boone, he has the choice of switching on that Green Light that I talked about.

  It has been a rough couple of seasons for the Yankees, since their last championship in 2009.  They have made attempts to reach for the gold again, but due to so many barriers, the door has been slammed in their faces on multiple occasions.  That’s in part to dealing with injuries and a recent Houston Astros cheating scandal that cost the Yankees a possible trip to the World Series.  In all that commotion, I would like to make the case that Chad Green had a big hand in carrying his team through some rough patches.

  Chad Green, who turned 29 on May 24, 2020 has been essential to the Yankee wins that he has pitched in. Green is so valuable because he has proven his worth, he can pitch as an effective bullpen weapon and be counted on as an occasionally opener.  Manager Aaron Boone had to flick on that Green Light switch a couple of times last season in tight spots.

  Chad Green saw himself in a new designated role to relieve his teammates on the injury front.  Boone called on his reliever to open 15 regular season games and once more in game six of the American League Championship Series against the Astros, which because of Houston’s illegal-electronic sign stealing was the Yankees last appearance on the baseball diamond.

  Whenever the baseball season gets underway, Chad Green will relish the moment when he returns to being a reliever.  That looks to be the plan now that the team got a much needed addition in Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery will be returning from Tommy John surgery.

  Speaking with Yankees beat reporter, Brian Hoch in early February, the right handed reliever said, “Opening was a little bit out of necessity last year, but we’ve got some guys that are going to step up and pitch some big innings….”  Continuing he said, “…With Monty being back and guys getting some experience under their belt, I think we should be good.” 

  During last season’s championship run, Green posted a 4.17 ERA and collected 98 Ks/strikeouts over a span of 54 appearances.  That also includes a posting of a 3.72 ERA and an accumulation of 32 strikeout deliveries to Gary Sanchez’s glove in his opening assignments.  The reliever was effective in those regular season starts, posting a record of 11-4.

  It is also worth noting that Chad Green and his pitching colleagues will be under new pitching instructions.  The Yankee hurlers will be working with new pitching coach Matt Blake, who was hired on November 14th to replace Larry Rothschild.  34-year-old Blake will be bringing a high-tech, analytics-inclined drive to the Yankees dugout.

  I know it will be a while before we see Blake take the walk out to the mound to get a pitcher back on track, but the Yankees’ pitching staff already have some good things to say about him.  Chad Green talked to Hoch about his new pitching coach, saying that,”He seems like he really knows the numbers and what works for you.  That’s good to know….”  Continuing to talk about his new coach, he said, “…He is willing to work with us and tries to get to know us.  Its kind of a back-and-forth conversation.  Its god so far.”

  As far as I am concerned, fan wise, Green is a competitor in my eyes.  So when something like illegal-electronic sign stealing occurs and is the reason for a missed world series shot, you better believe the Yankees’ reliever will speak up about it.

 “At the end of the day, you’ve just got to move forward and put it in the past.  It’s going to be tough, knowing what could have been in ’17. That’s a tough game to play — what could have been, what should have happened. I thought we were on a good run. I thought we were playing really well. It’s unfortunate that all that happened.” -Chad Green 

  With the Yankees likely to restore Chad Green to his original role, I can’t wait to see the the bullpen hurler and the entire team back on the field.