The Yankees entered this deadline season looking like they might need another full-scale bullpen overhaul. That was the expectation after last year’s relief mess, when Luke Weaver faded badly, Devin Williams struggled to hold things together until late September, and the club had to go out and add Camilo Doval, Jake Bird, and David Bednar.
This year, though, the picture has shifted fast. With August 3rd approaching, the bullpen is no longer the glaring problem it once was, and a big reason is the emergence of Paul Blackburn and Angel Chivilli.
Chivilli’s first run this season was rough, but his second stint with the big-league club has gone much better after he was called back up. He has settled in and turned into a strikeout-heavy weapon.
Blackburn’s turnaround has been even more striking. When he started at home against the Texas Rangers, it looked like his time with the team might be short-lived.
He walked two batters in one inning, got pulled, and didn’t exactly leave with his stock rising. His stuff didn’t jump off the page, and there didn’t seem to be much reason to keep both him and Ryan Yarbrough in the same role.
Then Blackburn flipped the script. Over his next 39 innings as a reliever, he has given up just seven earned runs and issued 12 walks. Even more notable, he’s throwing harder than he has at any point in his career.
Against the Pirates in his most recent outing, he reached 96.9 MPH with the hardest pitch of his career. The velocity jump is real: last year he threw just one pitch at 95 MPH, and this season he has already thrown 23 at 95 or above.
Blackburn gives the Yankees a longer body of work to trust. Chivilli doesn’t have that kind of resume yet, but what he has done since returning from Triple-A has been eye-opening. In nine innings, he has struck out nine, allowed one run, walked one, and surrendered only three hits.
He’s averaging 97.9 MPH, but the pitch doing the real damage is the changeup. Opponents are hitting .160 against it with a .208 slugging percentage.
That usage pattern has changed sharply from last season with the Rockies, when his fastball was his most-used pitch at 45.9%. This year, he’s using the heater just 20.5% of the time, while the changeup has jumped to 42.6%.
In that sense, Chivilli has become a mini-Devin Williams for a fraction of the price.
That doesn’t mean the Yankees should stand pat. They should absolutely still go after Mason Miller.
But the need to stockpile relievers the way they did last year is gone. Between Blackburn and Chivilli, they may have unlocked two more useful arms.
It’s a familiar kind of Yankees development, too. In 2024, getting more out of Luke Weaver, Jake Cousins, and Tim Hill helped carry them to a World Series berth. If this year’s bullpen gains hold, the same kind of payoff could be waiting again.
In Other News...
Yankees May Have Found The Deadline Catcher This Lineup Desperately Needs
The Yankees search for help behind the plate has become one of the quieter but more obvious deadline storylines, with Austin Wells still searching for consistency and the rest of the catching mix offering little certainty. That is why the idea of adding a more established bat at catcher has started to make sense, especially for a club trying to squeeze more offense out of every spot in the lineup.
Jim Bowden of The Athletic floated Colorados Hunter Goodman as a name worth watching, and the fit is easy to see from New Yorks side because a move like that could ease the burden on Wells while giving the Yankees another middle-of-the-order option on days when the catcher is not behind the plate. The catch, of course, is that the Rockies are not likely to move a player with that kind of control lightly, which is why this remains one of those deadline ideas that feels intriguing now and complicated the moment the real negotiations begin. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Bullpen Hunt Just Took A Serious Turn
The Yankees search for bullpen help has moved well beyond the usual July window shopping. According to USA Todays Bob Nightengale, the club is also looking for a backup catcher and additional offense, but the most eye-catching part of the report is the level of relief arm they are chasing as the deadline approaches.
Mason Miller has been one of the most effective relievers in the game this season, and the appeal is obvious for a Yankees team trying to shorten games down the stretch. He is also under team control through 2029, which only raises the stakes for any deal, because getting him would almost certainly require a massive return and a front office willing to pay a steep price. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees May Have Quietly Found The Bullpen Help They Desperately Needed
When the Yankees signed Paul Blackburn to a one-year deal after his release from the Mets, it looked like the kind of low-risk move teams make to patch over a bullpen need. Instead, Blackburn has quietly turned into one of the steadier arms in Aaron Boones relief mix, putting up a 0.99 ERA over 36 1/3 innings since mid-May and giving the club a useful option in spots that matter most.
His turnaround has been tied to both a bump in velocity and a change in how he attacks hitters, which has helped him fit into the late-inning picture far better than expected. Boone has already noted how well Blackburn has handled high-leverage situations, and with the trade deadline approaching, the bigger question is whether this unexpected internal answer changes how aggressively the Yankees need to shop for bullpen help. [Read more 🡒]