2021 Yankees Offseason Outlook Part 3: Team Weaknesses: Baserunning, Infield Defense, Superstar Bullpen Arms

Baserunning

A hot topic throughout the year was the insane amount of double plays that they hit into (first in baseball in GIDP% at 13.1%), but I believe it really comes down to speed and not a new poor hitting approach. The Yankees’ groundball% in 2020 was 43.8% and 43.4% in 2021. With runners on base, it was 41% in 2020 and 42.3% in 2021. To me, it comes down to speed. The Yankees always seem to equip some speedsters, such as Tyler Wade, Andrew Velazquez, Estevan Florial, and Tim Locastro, but not quite in guys who get starting playing time. Statcast lists average sprint speed as 27.0 ft/s, and in 2021, of the 14 players who played at least 49 games, nine had a sprint speed less than or equal to 27.0. Joey Gallo, Aaron Judge, and Clint Frazier meanwhile were just slightly above average. Compare this to 2018, when the Yankees were a great baserunning team at 14.6 BsR and had a faster team when Frazier, Judge, Hicks, Stanton, and Torres were younger and with above-average speed.

FanGraphs’ baserunning runs (BsR) lists the Yankees as the second worst baserunning team in 2021 (-15.1 BsR), unsurprising considering the outs on bases and lack of extra bases taken by the team. The Yankees had 50 outs on the bases (league average is 46) including 12 at third base and leading the league with 22 at home plate. The Yankees had an extra-base-taken% (percentage of times a baserunner advances more than one base on a single and more than two on a double) of 36%, tied for third lowest in the league. The Yankees also reached on errors the second lowest amount in the league and were below average in infield hits (141 to a league average of 152), also possibly due to a lack of speed.

Infield Defense

All around, the Yankees were not a good defensive team, with a collective -17 outs above average. 11 of that negative 17 came from the infield, with Gleyber Torres (-10) as the main culprit. Here is how the Yankees ranked among all teams in OAA (outs above average) and DRS (defensive runs saved) at each infield position:

1B: 0 OAA (14), -6 DRS (25)

2B: 9 OAA (4), -10 DRS (26)

SS: -14 OAA (27), -14 DRS (26)

3B: -5 OAA (19), -5 DRS (19)

Clearly shortstop is the biggest weakness. At the very least, it will get better by Gleyber Torres likely permanently moved to second base. While he is no stalwart there either, he seems to be more relaxed to make the routine play, and his errors per 162 games in his career is 28.3 at shortstop and 18.4 at second base. Even so, Gio Urshela playing out of position at shortstop is not long-term solution.

Superstar Bullpen Arms

The Yankee bullpen was once again a strength in 2021. They combined for the third most WAR (7.5), fourth best ERA (3.56), fifth best FIP (3.76), fourth best K rate (26.6%), and sixth best BB rate (8.9%). Even so, there were times where the Yankees bullpen strength didn’t feel quite like the mega-strength it was in years past. Zack Britton struggled mightily (5.89 ERA and 3 blown saves in only 18.1 innings) and won’t throw a single pitch next season. Chad Green was up-and-down and had solid season numbers (3.12 ERA and 99 Ks in a whopping 83.2 innings) but a couple rough stretches brought some other ugly totals (14 home runs, 6 blown saves). Aroldis Chapman looked better than ever to start the season, pitching to a 0.39 ERA in his first 23 innings, converting 12/13 saves with a ridiculous 50.6 K%. In his next 9 games from June 10 to July 4, Chapman gave up 14 earned runs in 5.2 innings while blowing 3 saves. Everyone was concerned what in the world happened. He then settled in to finish the year, pitching to a 1.95 ERA in his last 27.2 innings with no blown saves and a 40.1 K%, although 4 home runs and a 15.2 BB% kept his FIP much higher at 3.75. Chapman is still a great bullpen arm but not quite what he used to be.



The Yankees from 2016-2019 were loaded with superstar arms, headlined especially by the three previously mentioned pitchers along with Dellin Betances, Tommy Khanle, David Robertson, and Andrew Miller at various points. There were times in the past where Chapman struggled, and the Yankees were able to “hide” him with Dellin Betances taking over as closer, and so on. Everything was just so easy with how many studs they had. 

The most promising star of the Yankee bullpen heading into next season is Jonathan Loaisiga, who the Yankees like to utilize more as a high-leverage multi-inning guy. Clay Holmes also had a tremendous breakout in his 28 Yankee innings but is used in a similar way to Loaisiga. Green and Chapman are still great arms but not the stars they once were. The Yankees could really benefit from another star reliever. 

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