The New York Yankees appeared to be handling the brutal 12-game stretch just fine, picking up two series wins and a 4-2 start. Just as the Detroit Tigers showed up, the Yankees’ momentum came to a screeching halt, delivering a pair of duds. Now, their best hope for Thursday is to salvage the finale and prevent the Tigers from handing them a series sweep. It’s hard not to blame the bullpen for these letdowns. However, Aaron Boone didn’t seem to agree on that.

Entering the seventh inning on Tuesday, the Yankees were knotted in a 2-2 game when the bullpen collapsed, handing the Tigers a 12-2 win.

Meanwhile, in Wednesday’s 11-1 loss, the Yankees were trailing 2-0 entering the seventh when once again the bullpen rumbled and provoked more concern about what it might do in October.

Yet, manager Aaron Boone refused to acknowledge the glaring weakness after the game when he was asked if he found the bullpen’s performance frustrating. “Look, this is two days. I mean, you know, the bullpen has been closing out some really important games for us of late; that’s, you know, let us go on a pretty good run. These are, you know, two nights in a row where we haven’t got it done but you know we are also behind and you know chasing a little bit.” In just two nights, the bullpen has allowed 19 runs. It marked the first time that Yankees’ relievers combined allowed at least nine earned runs in two consecutive games.

Just some time ago, Fernando Cruz placed trust in the club’s assemblage of talent, saying, “I don’t think there’s a bullpen better than us. If you put the names together, it’s impossible.” The Yankees still have time to prove Cruz’s claim.

Especially given that David Bednar is looking like the club’s new closer. However, this time, the Tigers’ relentless attack has exposed all the cracks in the team. Currently, the Yankees’ 4.54 bullpen ERA is the 24th best in the Majors.

Yankees’ only reliever to pitch scorelessly on Wednesday

During Wednesday’s lopsided game against the Detroit Tigers, the Yankees turned to Austin Slater in the ninth inning. The outfielder took the mound after Luke Weaver, with the Yankees trailing by 10 runs.

Slater was able to record two outs while giving up a single to Dillon Dingler. However, what caught the attention was how he did it. His pitches were slower than anything Statcast has ever tracked from a Yankee in ten years. The radar gun displayed 36.4 mph on back-to-back offerings to Javier Báez.

The initial two pitches Javier Báez got from Slater each registered at 36.4 mph. While the first floated in there for a called strike, the second was a ball. Báez grounded to short on the third, which José Caballero collected. He went the short way to second for the forceout to put an end to the inning.

This wasn’t Slater’s first time toeing the rubber in the majors. Back during August 2021, he logged a third of an inning for the San Francisco Giants against the Atlanta Braves. Yet, Wednesday’s cameo stood out for the record-low velocity and for the rare balance of calm effectiveness.

He sure must be feeling pretty good going back to the dugout. After all, he had led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to right field that recorded an exit velocity of 104.4 mph. And just for the record, Slater, the right-hander, has a flawless 0.00 ERA.