PHILADELPHIA - Brent Headrick has become one of the Yankees’ most reliable answers in the tightest spots, and Aaron Boone saw it coming long before the rest of the league caught on.
Back in the offseason, Boone kept making the case for the left-hander, even though Headrick had logged just 23 innings last season and spent more time in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre than in New York. Boone was convinced Headrick would be pitching for the Yankees in 2026.
He’s doing much more than that now.
Headrick made his 52nd appearance Friday night, and only one pitcher in baseball has appeared in more games this season. He also ran his scoreless outing streak to 44, which leads MLB. After the Yankees’ 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, Boone didn’t hold back on how high he’s come to value the 28-year-old.
“I think he’s on the short list of guys that have been the best in the game that aren’t the full-time closer,” Boone said after the Yankees’ 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
That kind of trust has been earned one jam at a time. On Friday, Headrick came in during the eighth inning with two runners on and one out. He gave up a single to load the bases for the top of Philadelphia’s order, then got Trea Turner to line out and Kyle Schwarber to ground out, ending the threat without a run crossing.
“You love to be in those situations,” Headrick said. “Any time my name’s called, I’m gonna give everything I have.
I think it’s important to go out there with that same mentality every time. Guys on, guys not on, doesn’t matter.”
His work protected a dominant start from Cam Schlittler, who threw 7 1/3 scoreless innings, struck out 12 and did it on 99 pitches. Schlittler’s ERA dropped to 2.07, and he remains on a path that could put him in the American League Cy Young Award conversation.
“He’s saved me plenty of times this season,” Schlittler said of Headrick. “He’s been amazing. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves.”
For the Yankees, Headrick’s rise is also a scouting win. The club claimed him off waivers from the Minnesota Twins just before spring training last season.
Headrick had missed most of 2024 with injuries, and Minnesota had designated the former starting pitcher for assignment. Once he got into Yankees camp, he quickly stood out.
The raw stuff was there with the Twins, but the results never quite matched the tools. His four-seam fastball sat in the low-90s, and command was a real issue, even if the strikeout numbers hinted at something more.
Under the Yankees’ watch last spring, the fastball picked up 2 mph and the walks came down sharply. That combination has pushed him into Boone’s inner circle.
Headrick is now on pace to become only the fifth Yankees pitcher to appear in at least 80 games. The last reliever to reach that mark for the club was Boone Logan in 2012. And with the Yankees leaning on him heavily during a stretch when the offense has been quiet, his workload has only grown.
That usage was part of the plan, too. Over the winter, the Yankees told Headrick his training program would be more intense and more frequent to get him ready for shorter outings.
“We wanted him to do this,” Yankees bullpen coach Preston Claiborne said.
Headrick, David Bednar, Fernando Cruz and Paul Blackburn have been the backbone of a bullpen that leads the majors with a 3.04 ERA. And there may still be more help coming, with the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaching and the Yankees hoping to add at least one more high-leverage reliever, according to a source briefed on the club’s plans who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.
At the start of the season, plenty of people questioned the bullpen’s quality. Now, Headrick has helped change that conversation.
His emergence has also reduced the need for Camilo Doval, who was expected to be the No. 2 option entering the year. Instead, it’s Headrick who has taken that role and run with it.
The Yankees needed someone to step forward, and a waiver claim from last season has done exactly that.
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