The return of Tim Hill gives the Yankees a complete bullpen, as they finally add a left-handed reliever to their roster after not having a single left-handed reliever on their 40-man. There was a lot of shuffling around with this bullpen, as some key names departed in free agency and big names joined the team through the trade market, but this group looks to be considerably better than their 2024 counterparts. ‘
Headlined by the addition of Devin Williams, the Yankees have added some more swing-and-miss to a group that finished around the league average in K% as a bullpen. Perhaps the most loaded group on the roster, the Yankees’ bullpen should be a serious strength for them in 2025.
Yankees’ New-Look Bullpen Has a Chance to Be Special
Bringing in Devin Williams is a game-changer for the Yankees, as he’s proven to be one of the best relievers in the sport since earning a full-time role in the Brewers’ bullpen. Since 2020, Williams has the highest Win Probability Added (+14.33) among relievers, and the Yankees last season got a negative WPA from Clay Holmes, who served as their primary closer for most of the season.
Now it’s not entirely Holmes’ fault, some poor performances in high-leverage situations were amplified by outings where his defense failed him, but Williams does not rely on his defense as much to get outs. A strikeout machine who can also prevent damage contact, his skillset works in high-leverage situations very well because he can miss bats and strand runners without having them advance.
Not only does Devin Williams do a great job of missing bats, but he does so while being one of the best in baseball at avoiding barrels.
Having an elite closer should help the Yankees avoid the late-game meltdowns they had last season, but having a great closer isn’t that much of an advantage without the proper bridge between them and the starter. A pitcher who could have kept his closer job in 2025 but was moved to a set-up role because of the Devin Williams trade, Luke Weaver could be even better in 2025.
Last season Luke Weaver broke out and became a hero for the Yankees’ bullpen, winning the closer job late in the season when Clay Holmes was demoted into a set-up man. The right-hander struck out 31.1% of batters faced with a 2.89 ERA, and he only got better as the season went on. Greater trust in his four-seamer at the top of the zone resulted in a dominant end to his season, and it only made his signature changeup more unhittable.
Through his first four appearances, Weaver only sat around 93.7 MPH on his four-seamer, resulting in a 5.7% K% and 4.70 ERA over that stretch. After that, his fastball would sit at 96 MPH and he would strike out 34.1% of batters faced with a 2.71 ERA. The Yankees can now keep him in that multi-inning role where he’s extremely valuable in this bullpen, and there are games where they could get six innings from Gerrit Cole, two from Weaver, and finish with Devin Williams.
We know who the top two arms in this bullpen are entering the season, but the Yankees made sure to shore up the rest of the bullpen as well.
Fernando Cruz was acquired from the Reds alongside Alex Jackson for catcher Jose Trevino, and while the right-hander had an ERA nearing 5.00 last year, he could be a dominant late-inning weapon. I doubt we see a 4.86 ERA from Cruz in 2025, as he posted a 3.27 FIP and 2.74 SIERA, striking out 37.8% of batters faced across 69 appearances. The Yankees can make some adjustments with Cruz to help him prevent damage contact by either adjusting or scrapping his cutter.
Opposing hitters slugged north of .700 against that cutter, and if the Yankees can manipulate the shape of that pitch or replace it with another offering, Fernando Cruz could be incredible. I would bring back his slider and try to see if the cutter shape can get tightened up to give him a bit more variety in his looks, allowing that splitter to remain his primary weapon.
As for returning faces, Jonathan Loaisiga and Tim Hill are polar opposites to Fernando Cruz. Masters of damage prevention who won’t run high strikeout rates, these two have similar profiles due to their sky-high strikeout rates and heavy sinker usage, but they go about that in dramatically different manners. Loaisiga throws upper-90s smoke with good vertical and horizontal movement and can just overwhelm hitters because of it.
Paired with an 88 MPH curveball that has good sweeping action, Jonathan Loaisiga could get some of the swing-and-miss back that he lost by increasing the usage of this pitch. Don’t sleep on his power changeup either, which has bedeviled hitters over the past four years, although the sample size there isn’t very large because of injuries. The Yankees need to find a way to keep him healthy when he returns sometime in May because he’s an elite reliever.
Tim Hill doesn’t have the same age concerns and is the team’s lone left-hander, bringing a super funky delivery that helps his 89-91 MPH sinker dominate. When the Yankees plucked him from the White Sox, they lowered his arm angle and as a result, he was able to hold batters to a .236 wOBA on that pitch. The Yankees did lose Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle, but the two relievers they did retain are the ones who I expected they would bring back.
As for returning names, Ian Hamilton, Jake Cousins, and Mark Leiter Jr. round out the backend of the depth chart there, and their ability to miss bats at a high clip makes them valuable. Last season the trio combined for a 31.4% K% and 3.00 SIERA, and they won’t cost the Yankees much financially in 2025 or 2026. As for some fun names to keep an eye on this upcoming Spring, the Yankees have both veterans and prospects who could grab spots on the team in 2025.
Clayton Beeter could break camp with the Yankees, and his stuff is perfect for a bullpen role. Matt Blake spoke glowingly about the 26-year-old over the offseason on YES Hot Stove, and that immediately should pique a fan’s interest. The right-hander struck out 35.7% of batters faced across two levels of Minor League Baseball last year with a 2.08 ERA, seeing a massive improvement in stuff and command when he moved into a reliever role.
His fastball sat around 95-96 MPH with good vertical movement, and his slider has elite-level vertical drop that allows it to be a nasty swing-and-miss weapon. If his command gains as a reliever stick and he has a strong camp, I wonder if the Yankees shuffle their roster around to make him fit into their plans. JT Brubaker is out of MiLB options and began working on a sweeping slider in 2023 with the Pirates before tearing his UCL, and he could be their 2025 Luke Weaver.
A former starter with decent strikeout numbers but poor damage prevention and middling Stuff+ scores, Brubaker could really benefit from moving into a bullpen role where his fastball velocity could improve. Another name to keep an eye on is Eric Reyzelman, who got a non-roster invite to Spring Training but will likely not make the team out of camp given that he hasn’t pitched in Triple-A yet.
His stuff is gross, boasting a 95-96 MPH four-seamer with tons of movement that’s released from a lower slot, a slider with good two-plane movement, and a changeup that has tons of lateral movement and depth. He could be a high-leverage arm for the Yankees as soon as 2025 if he continues to mow down hitters the way we saw last season, as he posted a 1.16 ERA across three levels of Minor League Baseball.
The Yankees could go to various arms in the upper levels of the farm system to get bullpen support, they have an already-existing group of dominant weapons, and all of these pitchers have different looks. No two pitchers are the same, and it might result in this group leading the sport in WAR and ERA this season.