Yankees.com: Bednar’s hiccup leads to frustrating loss, capping Yanks’ ‘terrible road trip’

From Bryan Hoch:

As David Bednar nears his one-year anniversary as the Yankees’ closer, he has built a reputation as a rubber-armed bulldog, never flinching from a heavy workload or difficult spot. But life on the edge comes with consequences, and one mistake can change everything.

One out from sealing a victory, a hanging curveball certainly qualifies.

Tyrone Taylor’s game-tying three-run homer handed Bednar his second blown save, and Carson Benge later knocked in the winning run as the Yankees fell to the Mets, 7-6, in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.

“I’ve had a lot of success with that pitch. I trust my stuff,” Bednar said. “But overall, it’s unacceptable, especially in that spot. It’s just very frustrating.”

Bednar called the loss “a tough one to swallow.” It concluded what manager Aaron Boone described as “a terrible road trip” for the Yankees, who saw their bullpen stumble at times through a 2-7 showing in Milwaukee, Baltimore and now Queens.

I ain’t sugarcoating it, that loss sucked.

However, it was just the second blown save of Bednar’s season, and only the second home run he’s allowed. BOTH, of course, came on this road trip. The rest of the main relievers pitched fine (even Tim Hill, he allowed a bunt and a ground ball that very well could have been an out at the plate). They were hurt by Elmer not going deep, but Elmer isn’t even going to BE here in ten days, so him being mediocre is less of a concern (although I wonder if it doesn’t make more sense to send Elmer down for a reliever, then call Beck up to make the last pre-Cole start).

And while Austin Wells is unbelievably bad right now, the Yankees offense scored enough that they should have won the game. The offense did their job, the other relievers did their job (including Jake Bird, who has oddly been the best reliever the team has lately). The guy who really just fucked his job up was Bednar. Sometimes your closer has a shitty game. It happens.

I think we’ll know more about this team after this Blue Jays series. The Blue Jays kicked their asses all last season, and then kicked their ass in the ALDS. So let’s see if the Yankees are the same ol’ Yankees against the Blue Jays THIS season.

By the way, thank goodness no one seemed to notice that the right-handed catcher they traded for Doval actually had a MONSTER debut for the Giants. He crushed the ball in his first two games, but has been basically hitless since, so his numbers are now bad overall (the Giants suck, though, so I assume they’ll just play through it).

Oh, and the righthanded catcher they dealt for Jazz was sent to the minors.

The righthander catcher they traded in the Juan Soto deal has basically Wells’ OPS now.

The righthanded catcher they dealt for Bednar has a .671 OPS in AAA this season.

The righthanded catcher they traded to the Mets has a lower OPS than Wells.

The righthanded catcher they traded to the Reds for Fernando Cruz somehow has, like, HALF the OPS of Wells. The Yankees could probably bring Trevy back for a ham sandwich at this point if they’d like.

Finally, the righthanded catcher they traded for Elmer Rodriguez is doing okay, but not like last season when he looked like an All-Star.

As for trades THIS season in the bullpen, I think it makes much more sense to just use Elmer and Lagrange, and (knock on wood) hopefully Schmidt later in the season. The price to get a good reliever this season will be INSANE. Just use Lagrange rather than trading, like, Ben Hess for, like, Kensley fucking Janson.

I don’t think it makes sense to sell the farm for Ryan Jeffers, and if I’m the Twins, I’m only dealing that dude for a MASSIVE return. Otherwise, just give him the QO, and reap the draft pick. He has a 163 OPS+! People are DREAMING if they think the Yankees are acquiring Ryan Jeffers this season.

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