According to a source, the Yankees are still considering a reunion with a left-handed reliever.
The New York Yankees appear to be concentrating more on the reliever market. They are actively pursuing Hector Neris, and Andy Martino of SNY has identified another bullpen target. Wandy Peralta is still an option for the Yankees, who want to add enhancements to their bullpen that can pitch high-leverage innings. Peralta has been with the team since the 2021 season. They acquired Marcus Stroman (two years, $37 million) and Luke Weaver (one year, $2 million) this past week, suggesting that they have settled on their starting lineup and sixth starter.
The Yankees might compete for this month’s second reunion.
Wandy Peralta was excellent for the Yankees in the previous season, logging 54 innings at a 2.83 ERA and contributing crucial high leverage innings. His ability to throw quality innings appeared to regress, as evidenced by his FIP, which stayed at 5.05, suggesting some good fortune for the southpaw pitcher, who is 32 years old. That being said, it doesn’t take into account your ability to generate innocuous contact, and Peralta’s 57.4% groundball percentage allows him to get out of jams without creating swings-and-misses.
His exceptional velocity and ability to vary his delivery periods can confuse batters. His changeup-sinker-slider combination remained very successful. The Yankees had also been linked to him previously in the winter, so it comes as no surprise that they like this type of pitcher. Perhaps the Yankees will find it appealing that you can prevent runs more effectively than underlying numbers would indicate if you can produce groundballs while playing strong defense.
This wouldn’t be the first reunion of the month for the Yankees’ pitching staff however, as the team also brought back RHP Luke Weaver to fill their long relief role in the bullpen.
Weaver pitched to a 3.38 ERA in three starts with the Bronx Bombers to end the 2023 season, and the Yankees really like his cutter and four-seam fastball. Perhaps the Yankees can unlock something in his arsenal, as if he can refine the cutter it might be the damage prevention pitch that he’s always needed.
Following the signing of Marcus Stroman, the team’s need for rotation help isn’t as dramatic, and they’ll focus on the bullpen to handle late-game situations. While the Yankees had the best bullpen ERA in baseball last season (3.34), they can always use more upgrades, especially with their miss on Yoshinobu Yamamoto.