The New York Yankees, with a major assist from pitching coach Matt Blake, have worked their magic time and time again when it comes to getting the most out of overlooked and undervalued relievers.
From Clay Holmes to Luke Weaver and everyone in between, there’s plenty of examples to draw upon of the Yankees essentially picking players up off the scrap heap and turning them into key contributors for one of the league’s best bullpens season after season.
Though it’s over a small sample size, left-hander Brent Headrick is slowly developing into yet another success story of that ilk for New York.
A Minnesota Twins ninth-round pick out of Illinois State University in the 2019 MLB Draft, Headrick posted ERAs of 3.71 and 3.32 in the minor leagues during the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, respectively, while primarily working as a starter.
He’d make his big league debut on April 19, 2023 against the Boston Red Sox and pitch three innings of one-run ball, but the southpaw’s rookie season as a whole wasn’t so smooth.
In 14 appearances and 25 2/3 frames, Headrick owned a 6.31 ERA and 6.10 FIP while also putting up a 4.68 ERA in 19 outings for Triple-A St. Paul.
A forearm strain shut him down for a majority of 2024, as he recorded a 3.00 ERA in one major league appearance for the Twins to go alongside a 1.86 ERA in 19 1/3 minor league innings.
Minnesota would designate Headrick for assignment shortly before spring training began in February, paving the way for the Yankees to claim him.
He cracked the team’s Opening Day roster as one of three lefty bullpen arms alongside Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough, and despite allowing no runs over his first four outings of the season, he was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on April 6.
Headrick came back up to the majors on May 22 and turned in back-to-back scoreless performances before the Los Angeles Dodgers strafed him for three runs, the only ones he’s allowed all year, on May 31 as part of an 18-2 blowout win over New York.
Even after that outing, Headrick’s ERA, FIP and xERA sit at 3.24, 2.85 and 2.17, respectively, while his strikeouts per nine rate is currently 12.96 over 8 1/3 innings.
He’s a fly ball pitcher, as he induces groundballs at a miniscule 31.3 percent rate, but Headrick gets away with it due to the fact that his hard-hit rate is an elite 31.3 percent.
Furthermore, opposing hitters have an expected batting average of just .164 against the 27-year-old, who also gets them to chase a ridiculous 41.3 percent of the time.
Headrick’s bread-and-butter is his four-seam fastball, which he throws 71.4 percent of the time with an average velocity of 93.4 mph. The pitch has held batters to a .087 average and .217 slugging percentage through 26 plate appearances, per Baseball Savant.
While his last outing went sideways, it’s important to recognize how impressive Headrick’s been throughout the early portion of the season. He has the potential to remain in the Yankees’ bullpen for a long time, and he should bounce back in short order.
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