Making a Case for Why the Yankees Need to Keep Chad Green in the Bullpen

When you look at the Yankees bullpen, it might in fact be the best bullpen across the MLB right now as it possesses not only a lot of depth, but a lot of high end relievers. New York relied heavily on it's bullpen last year in it's push to the postseason and throughout October and will likely do the same heading into this season.

While Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances are usually the first two names that come to mind when you think of the Yankees bullpen, there are other high end arms that don't quite get enough attention. David Robertson has earned that reputation and continues to be one of the elite relievers in the game right now as illustrated by his career 12.00 strikeouts-per-9 rate. Another is Tommy Kahnle who has a career 3.56 ERA over 192.0 IP. Yet another name is right-hander, Chad Green.

Green, who was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 37th round of the 2010 Amateur Draft, made his official MLB debut in May of 2016 with the Yankees. In his inaugural season, Green pitched to the tune of a 4.73 ERA over 45.2 IP with a 5.34 FIP and a 9.7 hits-per-9 rate. That was the year that he was used both as a starter and a reliever.

Fast forward to last year when Green was used solely as a reliever and the results are much more promising. Green ended the 2017 season with a 1.83 ERA over 69.0 IP, a 0.73 WHIP, and a 13.4 strikeouts-per-9 rate. Among relievers, Green had the 5th best ERA last year in the league and his 2.3 WAR last season put him 6th on the list.

Moving ahead to this spring, the Yankees have contemplated using Chad Green in their starting rotation, but the biggest question is: why? Green obviously experienced a tremendous amount of success pitching out of the bullpen last year and as a team, why would you want to disrupt that success and put him back in a role that he didn't succeed in? It's just like the Diamondbacks with Archie Bradley. Bradley, had a tremendous year last year as a late inning reliever and is in the conversation for being the team's closer this coming season, but why should the team do that? It just doesn't make sense and a move of this caliber wouldn't make sense for the Yankees.

While New York obviously has a strong need for starting pitching as there are many question marks throughout the Yankees starting rotation in regard to health and durability, Chad Green is best suited as a late inning weapon. The Yankees might think that it would be valuable to have Chad Green start every fifth day, but in reality, it's better to have him available to use a couple of different times throughout a week long stretch this season. For example, if the Yankees play the Red Sox during a 4-game series, it would be better for the Yankees to have Green available for 2 or 3 of those games rather than having him only available for one as a starter. It just gives New York another weapon at the back end of its bullpen to help put tally marks in the win column.

Now, if the Yankees did reach a point this season where Chad Green needed to be used in more of a hybrid role, then it might make some more sense. It's not totally out of the realm of possibility that Green might get a spot start here or there in the event of an injury to someone like, CC Sabathia or Masahiro Tanka, but that is as far as his role as a starter should go.

One of the things that makes Chad Green so valuable, besides his shiny strikeouts-per-9 rate, is his ability to throw multiple different pitches. According to FanGraphs, Green can throw a fastball, slide, cutter, and changeup. However, his changeup does need more grooming, which is another reason why a bullpen role would be a terrific fit for him. Although a pitcher that has the ability to throw four pitches would be a valuable asset in any starting rotation, Green is right where he needs to be at 26 years old.

So knowing that the Yankees are better off with Chad Green pitching out of their bullpen, what about their starting rotation? Simply put they need to just plan on going into the season with who they currently have among internal candidates for the rotation and if an upgrade is needed come the July Trade Deadline, then make an upgrade at that time. That would be a better plan for the Yankees, then rushing out and trying to sign Jake Arrieta, Lance Lynn or Alex Cobb before Opening Day, which has never seemed very likely at any point this offseason to begin with.

Regardless, Chad Green experienced some success during his inaugural season in the big leagues in 2016, but really turned the corner last year solely as a reliever. Thus, the Yankees would be better off having Green come out of the bullpen for them and pairing him with David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle, Dellin Betances, and Aroldis Chapman at the end of games. After all, you can't go wrong with a reliever that has a career strikeouts-per-9 rate of 12.17.