3 takeaways from the Yankees beating the Twins in the ALDS

2. The bullpen eased through

The Yankees pitching staff is built entirely for the new postseason, where it is not uncommon for relievers to carry four out of nine innings in each game. True to form, no New York starter went more than five innings in the ALDS, leaving the bullpen on the hook for roughly half of the innings in the series. Those 13.1 innings that Yankees relievers were responsible for in the series, however, were relatively stress-free.

The Yankees did not trail past the third inning in a single game of the series and gave their relievers massive leads to work with in Games 1 and 2. Game 3 was a bit closer, but the Yankees were able to score two runs in the ninth inning to make Aroldis Chapman’s appearance a formality.

Because of their unmatched depth, the Yankees don’t typically have to ask a single reliever to go multiple innings in back-to-back games. Having so many elite relievers allows the Yankees to keep everyone’s role mostly unchanged from the regular season.

Zach Britton and Chapman both got a game off in the ALDS, while Adam Ottavino and Tommy Kahnle averaged less than an inning per game in their three appearances. The bloated scores allowed the Yankees to use Chad Green, J.A. Happ, Jonathan Loaisiga and Tyler Lyons in low-leverage situations. It was about as stress-free a series for the bullpen as the Yankees could have hoped for, and Aaron Boone will have a fully rested group of relievers entering the ALCS.