The bullpen balancing act Yankees face with AL East chase still on

As the playoffs approach, get used to seeing what the Yankees did in Sunday’s 2-0 win: an inning each from Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn and David Bednar.Actually, if you’ve been paying attention, you’ve seen that trio plenty already this season, and it’s served the Yankees well.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

But the Yankees will also have to decide whether it’s sustainable to keep up this pace, since Headrick has pitched the most games in the majors and entered Sunday ninth in the majors among relievers with 73 ¹/₃ innings pitched.Blackburn is fifth on the list at 76 ²/₃ innings pitched, and among closers, only Cleveland’s Cade Smith has outpaced Bednar’s 64 ¹/₃ innings following Sunday’s victory.Prior to the game, Aaron Boone said he’d “prefer a little lighter load along the way” with some of the high-leverage relievers, but he noted over the past few weeks, they’ve looked to reduce their workload in order to provide “a bit of a reset.”But Boone also said as they continue to chase the Rays in the AL East and look to hold off the Red Sox for the top AL wild-card spot, that they’ve “still got to be disciplined not overusing them, even when it’s the most critical game.They’re all ready to roll.

Any time we have a chance to win a game, I’m gonna go to them.”It worked again Sunday, as the three relievers combined to toss three shutout innings in relief of the brilliant Cam Schlittler.Blackburn, in his first full season as a reliever, said it’s been an adjustment getting used to the workload of a reliever, but he feels prepared to pitch frequently both down the stretch and into the playoffs.“Mentally, that’s where we are and what we believe in,’’ he said.“We’ll probably pitch every day in the playoffs.

We’re ready for that, and that’s a good thing for us.It’s not gonna surprise us.

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