2 weeks Ago By Ryan Garcia, Empire Sports Media
Last week, the New York Yankees signed right-handed reliever Geoff Hartlieb to a Minor League contract. After a disappointing season with the Colorado Rockies, the 30-year-old reliever joins the Bronx Bombers as he hopes to rebound and unlock something with a new organization. While this addition only impacts next year’s team, his impressive velocity and solid pitch mix could make him an interesting breakout candidate as the Yankees have a track record of finding hidden bullpen gems.
Hartlieb pitched to a 9.00 ERA in five appearances with Colorado and has a 7.37 ERA in his MLB career, sporting a -0.
5 fWAR. What Do the Yankees See In Geoff Hartileb? This past season was far from what Geoff Hartlieb hoped for, as he allowed nine runs in nine innings and struck out just 15.9% of batters faced with the Rockies.
His fastball velocity is impressive, averaging 97.1 MPH and topping out at 99.3 MPH this season, but his inability to pick up whiffs and poor command has rendered him largely ineffective.
Hartlieb boasts a four-seamer, sinker, cutter, and slider while throwing from a wide release point, and he gets a good bit of extension on his pitches thanks to his taller frame. A diverse fastball profile is important, but the lack of a consistent breaking ball has made the right-hander easy pickings for MLB lineups. Signing with the Yankees could prove to be exactly what he needs, however, as they have an extensive history of improving breaking pitches.
Whether it’s changing the shape of their breaking ball as was the case with Clay Holmes or just emphasizing the usage of that pitch as they did with Ian Hamilton, the Yankees are great at developing sliders. Geoff Hartlieb had a 109 Stuff+ on his slider as it’s a true gyroscopic slider, having 1.8′′ of IVB with 2.
1′′ of glove side movement. Furthermore, Hartlieb has a firm sinker that sits at 95.7 MPH with 12.
7′′ of arm side run, and the Yankees could try and improve the location or shape of that pitch as well. Any struggling reliever with a firm sinker and a slider with good stuff grades will immediately appeal to an organization like the Yankees who develop those pitches well, and they’ll need a good amount of bullpen support in the offseason. Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle, and Tim Hill are all going to hit free agency, creating a lot of open room in the bullpen.
If they choose to explore some big names on the market to shore up their bullpen, it helps to have some more low-cost production so you can offset the cost of a more expensive reliever. With Juan Soto hitting free agency as well, the Yankees may just opt to allocate all of their financial resources to him. Geoff Hartlieb is not a world-beater, but he has some upside and the Yankees could get more value out of him with a strong offseason and Spring Training in 2025.
This article first appeared on Empire Sports Media and was syndicated with permission..
