It would have been incredible if the New York Yankees had been able to trade for Mason Miller at the deadline last month. For weeks leading up to it, all the talk was about how badly the Yankees wanted the hard-throwing closer, but in the end, he stayed put in San Diego .
While Miller may have been a pipe dream - at least for now - it did signal that general manager Brian Cashman was on the lookout for bullpen depth, even if his lowly lineup was an issue, too, with all the injuries they had sustained.
This is why, when they walked out of the trade deadline empty-handed on the pitching front, it was a head-scratcher. While it still doesn't make sense that Cashman decided to stand pat on that front, claiming John Schreiber off waivers was probably bigger than most realize and helps address that deadline miscue a bit.
In Schreiber's Yankees debut on Tuesday, he gave New York exactly what it has been searching for - a veteran reliever who can give quality innings. With the Yankees up 7-3 and Brent Headrick and Paul Blackburn having just gone 2.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts between them, Schreiber came in to protect a 7-3 lead.
New York Yankees catcher Ali Sanchez (39) and pitcher John Schreiber (56) celebrate the victory against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
While Schreiber didn't garner any strikeouts, he had a quick 1-2-3 inning in the ninth. It was devoid of any drama.
During a ten-pitch at-bat, Schreiber outlasted Christian Moore , who flew out to Spencer Jones. Next up, Jose Siri would also hit a fly ball to Jones. Then, that final out was yet another fly ball. It was also another instance of Jones getting the out.
Schreiber didn't end up on Pitching Ninja's feed from the appearance, and he didn't throw anything particularly nasty, but the Yankees don't need that from him. There are plenty of others in the bullpen or rotation who have that ability.
For him, it will just be about getting three outs when there are more than three outs, or potentially if a starter comes out of a game early. It's likely he won't be in high-leverage spots, either, unless he continues to get his outs and impresses Aaron Boone.
All Schreiber needs to do is come out and get those lower-leverage innings, and for Boone not to feel like he has to use one of Blackburn, Headrick, or David Bednar because there isn't anybody else - a situation the manager found himself in for the first game of the Angels' series.
Schreiber is in New York to do the boring stuff and save the arms of the bigger guns in the bullpen. Therefore, we can say, so far, so good in his first outing.
Get Yankees On SI straight to your inbox: sign up for our free newsletter here.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/yankees/onsi as John Schreiber's Debut Could Change Aaron Boone's Bullpen Plans .
