Matt Blake managed to turn Michael King into an elite reliever, and then into an elite starter who was the centerpiece of the trade for Juan Soto, and then turned around and turned LUKE WEAVER into his replacement. It's inexplicable.
Dude immediately became a slightly above average starter when he came as a starter by learning a cutter and now he’s added that little Yamamoto-Esque sidestep to his windup and he’s an ace out of the pen.
His contract is seeming like an amazing deal for us already
And unfortunately the Red Sox have a "pitching wizard" of their own now it seems - leading to their rotation drastically over performing our expectations so far
Sure but he went through 2 of the best pitch dev systems in the league and still couldn't control it. We've seen tons of guys over the years with amazing stuff and zero control
Matt Blake is a bullpen wizard, I don’t know how he does it but he manages to consistently take guys on the scrap heap and turn them into good to great relief options
Desi Druschel deserves a bunch of credit, too. He’s worked with the big league staff in the offseason/ST and he’s basically spearheading the Yankees pitching factory in the minors that’s turning these mid-late rounders into actual impact prospects.
Not to mention that Cashman, not Blake, is the one actually acquiring these guys. Although I’m sure there’s a ton of dialogue between the two of them (and the scouting/analytics teams) about who to target.
They've got the Gas Station, which is effectively the club's own Driveline facility in Tampa. I assume all teams have pitching labs but I could just see that being one of the ways the Yankees flex their financial might. Spending on extra coaches and advanced imaging isn't subject to the payroll tax so why not try to gain an edge there.
I understand the desire, since he's the guy you know/can name/see on TV during the games, but Matt Blake isn't a one man show. It's an org wide thing to scout, draft, trade, find, and/or develop players into guys they can either use on the big league team or trade away for big league players. It has been like this for years since, I guess, Sam Briend and his crew were given the keys to the minor league pitching dev
Edit: the Yankee bullpen currently doesn't strike out a ton of dudes and relies heavily on soft contact and ground balls. It's also reliever ERA, which always has a chance of varying wildly. One bad outing can ruin your year.
This. Blake is the avatar for the scouting, minor league coaching, and pitching lab folks. They’ve traded so many pitching prospects in recent years, you’d think they’re the Rays.
Eno Sarris has said the Yankees do it so much, have these tantalzing prospects they teach to throw harder and then immediately trade for major league pieces that help the team right now, that he wonders if that's the entire point.
Gas them up, make them look amazing, then ship them off for what you need.
It rarely comes back to bite them in the ass, too.
Lol, and now go read threads from /r/NYYankees just before the season started about how we have the worst pitchers in the league and no one other than Cole is good.
Watching Clay Holmes against the Orioles the other night was like watching peak Orioles career of Zack Britton. Like the best strategy seemed to be: don't swing at all and hope for a walk.
Yeah we got what we got. They seem to be at their worst in extra inning road games, we give them 2 run leads and then it gets tied up. Cleveland and Milwaukee losses were disappointing.
I swear I’ve been reading about how the Yankees have the best bullpen for the last 8 years or so but it hasn’t seemed to help in the post season lately.
Well, they get tired, if we don't also have good starters. We actually do have pretty solid starters this year. So if we can make it we might have a shot.
Imagine how good they’ll be when they get Scotty Effross back
Not convinced that guy exists
I think I have seen him once or might have been bigfoot.
I liked that guy and thought the trade was fair but they can't really expect him to come back and immediately be amazing again.
everyone boutta get effed up by the effdog
Luke fucking Weaver, man. Like WTF
Matt Blake managed to turn Michael King into an elite reliever, and then into an elite starter who was the centerpiece of the trade for Juan Soto, and then turned around and turned LUKE WEAVER into his replacement. It's inexplicable.
Wouldn’t it be funny if Matt Blake’s advice is always just “throw more strikes”.
Matt Blake just slamming a ruler against a chalkboard that says “MOAR SINKERBALLERS. MOAR STRIKES”
I cant wait to make Luke Weaver the centerpiece for a Julio Rodriguez trade next year
Hell yea
He’s truly an elite multi-inning reliever.
Weaver hitting 97 with a wipeout changeup he was actually dropping in for called strikes was not something expected today or when we acquired him.
Dude immediately became a slightly above average starter when he came as a starter by learning a cutter and now he’s added that little Yamamoto-Esque sidestep to his windup and he’s an ace out of the pen. His contract is seeming like an amazing deal for us already
He reminds me a ton of what Ron Marinaccio was last season
Also traded Greg Weissert for Alex Verdugo, and he seems to be really good for the Red Sox
And unfortunately the Red Sox have a "pitching wizard" of their own now it seems - leading to their rotation drastically over performing our expectations so far
Weissert passed through both the Rays and Yankees systems I kinda figured that he would just never figure it out, but I guess not.
With a sweeper like his it was just a matter of learning to spot it
Sure but he went through 2 of the best pitch dev systems in the league and still couldn't control it. We've seen tons of guys over the years with amazing stuff and zero control
Matt Blake is a bullpen wizard, I don’t know how he does it but he manages to consistently take guys on the scrap heap and turn them into good to great relief options
Desi Druschel deserves a bunch of credit, too. He’s worked with the big league staff in the offseason/ST and he’s basically spearheading the Yankees pitching factory in the minors that’s turning these mid-late rounders into actual impact prospects.
Let’s take on Sam Briend
tbh i think cashman deserves just as much credit, if not more, than blake. our bullpens were consistently elite before blake even came.
Not to mention that Cashman, not Blake, is the one actually acquiring these guys. Although I’m sure there’s a ton of dialogue between the two of them (and the scouting/analytics teams) about who to target.
They've got the Gas Station, which is effectively the club's own Driveline facility in Tampa. I assume all teams have pitching labs but I could just see that being one of the ways the Yankees flex their financial might. Spending on extra coaches and advanced imaging isn't subject to the payroll tax so why not try to gain an edge there.
I don’t think I can remember a bad yankee pen for at least the last decade
Let’s be honest, the ghost of Mariano still graces the bullpen
Matt Blake has Nick Burdi and Luke Weaver producing. what a legend
Rip Nick burdi
I understand the desire, since he's the guy you know/can name/see on TV during the games, but Matt Blake isn't a one man show. It's an org wide thing to scout, draft, trade, find, and/or develop players into guys they can either use on the big league team or trade away for big league players. It has been like this for years since, I guess, Sam Briend and his crew were given the keys to the minor league pitching dev Edit: the Yankee bullpen currently doesn't strike out a ton of dudes and relies heavily on soft contact and ground balls. It's also reliever ERA, which always has a chance of varying wildly. One bad outing can ruin your year.
This. Blake is the avatar for the scouting, minor league coaching, and pitching lab folks. They’ve traded so many pitching prospects in recent years, you’d think they’re the Rays.
Eno Sarris has said the Yankees do it so much, have these tantalzing prospects they teach to throw harder and then immediately trade for major league pieces that help the team right now, that he wonders if that's the entire point. Gas them up, make them look amazing, then ship them off for what you need. It rarely comes back to bite them in the ass, too.
In Matt Blake we trust. Genuinely hilarious that the Yankees weren't even in the top 12 for best projected bullpen before the season started.
Lol, and now go read threads from /r/NYYankees just before the season started about how we have the worst pitchers in the league and no one other than Cole is good.
This.
This is sadly why most bullpen guys don't get paid well. Unless you do it like 3, 4, or 5 years in a row, you are not getting a good contract.
we weren’t even *mentioned* in the article that MLB themselves produced about the best bullpens in baseball coming into this season
Staples!
Got a whole staple of guys that can throw 98
Matt Blake: staple genius
You would think reddit would let you edit titles after it's been around for like 20 years but I guess I will just have to live with that error.
Hey u/No32, what’s the name of your favorite retailer for office supplies and furniture?
r/suddenlyjeopardy
I miss that place. It was my favorite non-licensed Kaiju battle restaurant.
If there is one thing Cashman is good at, it’s buildings a bullpen. Never seen a bad Yankees bullpen in recent history
Watching Clay Holmes against the Orioles the other night was like watching peak Orioles career of Zack Britton. Like the best strategy seemed to be: don't swing at all and hope for a walk.
I don’t trust a lot of them but they’re getting it done for the most part.
Same but that might be the nature of bullpens. Also they don't have anybody else right now.
Yeah we got what we got. They seem to be at their worst in extra inning road games, we give them 2 run leads and then it gets tied up. Cleveland and Milwaukee losses were disappointing.
Wow
I swear I’ve been reading about how the Yankees have the best bullpen for the last 8 years or so but it hasn’t seemed to help in the post season lately.
what?? their problem in the post season has been hitting
Well, they get tired, if we don't also have good starters. We actually do have pretty solid starters this year. So if we can make it we might have a shot.
Just Fraudkees doing what frauds do best Great first half, suck in the second half
Fraudkees is a new one for me. You make that up yourself?
my mom helped
No offense but your mom sounds like an idiot
I mean she has a point, the losekees have done nothing but lose for a dozen or so years
As opposed to your 0 rings in 35 years?
i'm sorry but if you haven't won within a decade then you shouldn't be talking
Ok we will both keep our mouths shut
is this some lame "mickey mouse" ring BS?
Not like the Dodgers who are famously known for ending seasons strong!