The New York Yankees added Luis Garcia Jr. and Heliot Ramos ahead of the trade deadline, but the big concern, the bullpen, was an area where Brian Cashman walked away empty-handed. In the following weeks, the front office made some moves through the waiver wire, and adding John Schreiber has somewhat remedied their deadline whiff.
This season, Schreiber has a 3.20 ERA in 56.1 IP. It's as low as it is because the veteran reliever has posted zeroes in the run column in every outing that Aaron Boone has turned to him. When the Kansas City Royals cut him loose - most likely for monetary reasons - he was sitting on a 3.65 ERA, and his seven-inning scoreless streak in pinstripes has brought that to where Schreiber has been for most of his career.
One thing about Schreiber is that while he isn't getting the strikeouts he once did, he's been able to give length when needed, too. In three of the six appearances, Schreiber has pitched 1.1 innings. That ability matters as much as his dependability, because the bullpen needed a few more arms to carry the load for Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick - two guys who carried the Yankees through a year-long medley of close games.
New York Yankees relief pitcher Brent Headrick has become a reliable option for manager Aaron Boone this season. However, he doesn't have to do it alone, thanks to the addition of John Schreiber (not pictured). | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
His most recent outing in which he did this was the first game against the Minnesota Twins on Monday night. In the bottom of the eighth, Tim Hill gave up a home run to Josh Bell , Emmanuel Rodriguez reached on an error, and Victor Caratini reached base after he was hit by a pitch. Schreiber was then tasked with getting four outs for Boone. He started by shutting the door on Minnesota's budding rally.
In the ninth, after walking Luke Keaschell, Schreiber induced a double play. That inning got a little dicey, though, after a walk and another error, but Schreiber danced around the base runners without David Bednar needing to come in.
While Schreiber has been fantastic in New York, it's hard to credit his success to Matt Blake magic. Schreiber has always been one of baseball's more dependable relievers, and his 3.20 ERA is slightly lower than his career 3.57 across Detroit , Boston , and Kansas City .
Schreiber is actually the type of pitcher the Yankees needed to acquire at the deadline. There was a lot of talk about a blockbuster Mason Miller deal, but what this team needed most was a few veteran arms who can be dependable in higher-leverage spots, so Boone isn't forced to go to Hendrick and Blackburn. Schreiber has been exactly that, and the Yankees are lucky the Royals wanted to save a few dollars with him.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/yankees/onsi as John Schreiber Experiment Is Paying Huge Dividends at Backend of Bullpen .
