The Yankees’ kingdom for a Dellin Betances.
Or an Andrew Miller. Or Aroldis Chapman. Or even Chad Green.
A staple of Yankees success over the last decade-plus has been having a powerful, deep bullpen that revolved around the strikeout. But in each of the past two seasons, the Yankees ranked 12th in the majors in relief strikeout percentage, albeit at a still-sizable 24.2 percent in 2022 and 24 percent last year.
But entering the weekend, the Yankees were last in relief strikeout percentage, and even entering Monday they were 29th of 30 teams at just 18.2 percent. That was before Victor Gonzalez, who has whiffed just three of the 36 batters he has faced this year, allowed the two-run run homer to Zack Gelof on Monday that helped Oakland beat the Yankees, 2-0. The 8.3 percent was the second-lowest of any reliever who had thrown at least six innings this year.
