Pete Caldera|MLB Writer
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NEW YORK – Aaron Boone’s circle of trust among high-leverage relievers is currently down to Chad Green and Jonathan Loaisiga.
In other words, hurry back from the injured list Zack Britton.
Aroldis Chapman needs an extended break from the Yankees’ closer’s role, allowing him to work through his issues with fastball command and those sloppy sliders.
And whatever happened to that deadly split-change he was using to such great effect?
Chapman has all but abandoned that pitch, and the Yankees must vacate the idea that their All-Star flame-throwing lefty can handle any kind of high-leverage, late-inning situation.
Not until he straightens out his mechanics, finding some route back to the nearly untouchable closer he was before June 10, charged with just one earned run over his first 23 appearances.
Since then, Chapman has yielded 14 earned runs in his last nine appearances, including Sunday’s blown save in the Subway Series doubleheader opener against the Mets.
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Puzzlingtimes
It should be noted, too, that Chapman’s sharp decline has occurred since MLB’s crackdown on illegal grip aids designed to improve spin rates.
Included in that sweep was the banned use of sunscreen and rosin, mostly designed to keep pitches from slipping out of MLB pitcher’s hands.
After surrendering a game-tying homer to Pete Alonso in Sunday’s opening 10-5 loss to the Mets, blowing a save and eventually losing the game, Chapman also hit his first batter this season.
Michael Conforto took a 100-mph fastball off his front shoulder.
Whatever the cause and effect of the crackdown on sticky stuff, Chapman cannot – no matter how desperate the Yanks are – be handed the ball in a save spot any time soon.
In practice, this could be difficult.
First, the availability of Green (37 pitches thrown Sunday) and Loaisiga (41) is in question for Tuesday’s road trip opener at Seattle.
Plus, Lucas Luetge’s performance has also slipped sharply of late, Justin Wilson has been a mess all season and Wandy Peralta has a 7.36 ERA over his last 14 appearances.
And that’s just the lefties in Boone’s bullpen.
Luis Cessa is needed as a long man and Darren O’Day, just off the IL, has yet to find his rhythm – yielding a two-run homer to Alonso in Sunday’s nightcap before wriggling out of fourth-inning trouble in the Yankees’ 4-2 win.
After the game, the Yankees optioned utility man Tyler Wade to Triple-A, possibly to keep another reliever on hand.
And as Boone said, the Yankees plan to talk through their closer options, open to considering “a number of things’’ to improve the situation.
Baseball: NY Mets win two of three against rival Yankees in Subway Series showdown
Pitching matchups
Tuesday, 10:10 p.m. (EDT): RHP Jameson Taillon (3-4 ,5.43) vs. LHP Justus Sheffield (5-7, 5.88).
Taillon will be going on six days of rest, having yielded three home runs —two to Shohei Ohtani —in his last start against the Angels.
Sheffield, you'll recall, was the Cleveland first round draft pick traded to the Yankees (with Clint Frazier) for Andrew Miller and later swapped to Seattle for James Paxton.
Wednesday, 10:10 p.m. (EDT): RHP Domingo German (4-5, 4.50) vs. LHP Yusei Kikuchi (6-3, 3.18).
German will also be going on six days rest, seeking to fix his fastball command.
He's 0-2 with a 9.98 ERA over his last four starts, after going 4-3 with a 3.12 ERA in his first 11 starts.
Thursday, 4:10 p.m. (EDT):LHP Jordan Montgomery (3-3, 4.17) vs. RHP Logan Gilbert (2-2, 4.10).
Montgomery is pitching with one extra day of rest, following Friday's loss to the Mets, charged with three runs in 4.1 innings.
This weekend
Right before the All-Star break, the Yankees arrive at Houston for the first time since the 2019 AL Championship Series and Jose Altuve’s pennant-winning homer off Chapman.
Since then, the Astros’ electronic cheating scandal was exposed, rocking MLB and causing a lot of hard feelings among the Yankees, believing they were cheated out of the 2017 pennant – and possibly a 2019 trip to the World Series.
Expect a lot of old wounds to resurface this weekend at Minute Maid Park.
'They need to fix the problem': Hal Steinbrenner puts 'majority' of blame on Yankees players
Injury updates
LHP Zack Britton(strained left hamstring) is due to throw another bullpen session Tuesday, after which he could be activated from the 10-day injured list.
OF Clint Frazier (vertigo) is due for another series of tests early this week. He exited Wednesday's game on a hot-humid night after two innings, due to dizziness.
RHP Luis Severino (strained right groin) could graduate to facing live hitters later this week. His setback from Tommy John surgery rehab has cost him at least a month.
RHP Corey Kluber (strained right shoulder) has been tossing from 90 feet for about a week. He might not be ready to re-join the Yankees rotation until early September.
Player spotlight: Giancarlo Stanton
This would be a good time for Stanton to go on a tear.
One small victory is that he’s been on the field, starting the Yankees’ last 18 games, including Sunday’s doubleheader.
You couldn’t say that about Gleyber Torres, a manager’s choice to sit out Sunday’s nightcap. He’s in a 3-for-19 fog amid a puzzling, unproductive season.
But Stanton hasn’t exactly brought much thunder lately, coming off a fairly quiet homestand and batting .207 (6-for-29) since June 25, with one homer and two RBI.
Pete Caldera is theYankeesbeat writer forNorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Yankees analysis, news, trades and more, pleasesubscribe todayanddownload our app.
Email:caldera@northjersey.comTwitter:@pcaldera
