This past series was great for the Yankees, but very quietly, they showed some cracks in a bullpen that has had a winning formula all season. Tim Hill, Fernando Cruz, and Luke Weaver all struggled in this series to hold leads, and those three had been their best relievers all season. It’s not an alarming trend, guys are bound to struggle after a consistent stretch of dominance, but it does provide a reminder that you need more depth in that group. They don’t want their top relievers to end up with 70+ innings pitched each, and the return of Jonathan Loaisiga should help them avoid that mark.
His velocity has been down in his rehab appearances in Single-A and Triple-A, but the pitch quality remains excellent, and the Yankees could be getting a massive multi-inning weapon for that bullpen soon.
Why Jonathan Loaisiga Can Be a Massive Help For the Yankees’ Bullpen
Jonathan Loaisiga has been brilliant in these rehab outings, striking out 50% of the batters he’s faced across four appearances, pitching more than just one inning in two of them. The Yankees are building him up to be a multi-inning weapon that’s capable of also pitching on back-to-back days if he only goes for an inning in the game prior. What has immediately impressed me is the way he’s using his secondary pitches, still relying on his sinker a lot, but dialing down the usage to get some more whiffs in two-strike situations.
His sinker usage was between 65-70% from 2022-2024 when his strikeout rates were below 20%, but in his five MiLB appearances (which all had Statcast data), he’s using it just 57.1% of the time. Against left-handed hitters, he changes up the usage rate a ton, with his sinker usage rate at 42.1%, the changeup at 36.8%, and the four-seamer at 21.1%, not throwing a single curveball in these at-bats (albeit in a small sample size). This is in sharp contrast to his usage rates from 2022-2024, where his sinker had a 60% usage rate vs LHB and used his changeup 30% of the time.
With his four-seamer being used more, he can get swings-and-misses at the top of the zone and set up a changeup or sinker at the bottom of the zone to change eye-levels. The usage rate versus right-handed batters has remained constant, throwing a ton of sinkers early in the count and then using the curveball to get a strikeout when he’s in two-strike situations.
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In his most recent outing with the Scranton RailRiders, we saw a balanced usage of all four pitches, and while his velocity is down, the Stuff+ scores are still excellent. He possesses four average to above-average pitches, and the quality of pitch could improve if he has another 0.5 MPH to add in the tank. The Yankees being able to utilize Loaisiga in a multi-inning role if needed could keep the team from having to over-extend some of their core guys in late-game scenarios.
Devin Williams getting back on track would help a lot, because then he could be in a high-leverage role alongside Luke Weaver, Fernando Cruz, and Tim Hill. Ian Hamilton and Mark Leiter Jr. are capable middle-inning options, and if Jonathan Loaisiga can be another high-leverage weapon for this group? This bullpen could suddenly propel into the top unit in the league, which should help their poor record in close games to start the season. Don’t discount how important Loaisiga could be when the Yankees have lost multiple games due to blowing a late lead or losing a tight game.
Preventing a run here and a run there is the difference between 24-13 and 21-16, and that’s a massive difference in vibes. This roster is capable of going on a tear, but they need to be better in close games and hold their leads, which is exactly what Jonathan Loaisiga can do for the Yankees.