BALTIMORE – There’s nothing quite so bottomless as a 162-game Major League Baseball season. Brent Headrick is discovering that three excruciating outs at a time.
After pitching a scoreless seventh inning and getting a favorable ruling on a questionable foul ball call, Headrick has pitched in 65 of the New York Yankees‘ 126 games this season. That is an 84-game pace, which would rank second in franchise history, one game ahead of Scott Proctor and two games behind Paul Quantrill, who were used, shall we say, liberally by manager Joe Torre in the mid-2000s.
Advertisement
Back then, usage and load management and the long-term effects of a heavy season on an arm weren’t so copiously tracked. Nearly three decades into this century, arm care and the desire to avoid three appearances in three days, or four in five, are canon on most pitching staffs.
But these are the 2026 Yankees, wracked by injuries to the lineup and short in the rotation with aces Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Max Fried all recovering from elbow maladies at various points.
Close and late is the Yankee way right now. And so more nights than not, the bullpen phone rings and summons Headrick.
Answering that call night after night after night is as much a mental challenge as a physical one. And Headrick, a 6-foot-6, 235-pound left-hander, leans heavily on the words imparted by the Yankees’ mental skills staff.
Advertisement
“I’ve said this since early in the season: Attack the day,” Headrick tells USA TODAY Sports. “Each day can lead to the next. You can look two weeks in advance, but it’s not going to do any good. For me, with every aspect of the game, I try to live in today. Take care of what today needs.
“And worry about tomorrow when it gets here. That mentality has allowed me to be more present and take care of my body and do things the right way so I’m prepped for a longer season.”
And oh, what a season.
Headrick has posted a 1.55 ERA in his 65 games, striking out 79 in 64 innings. His 20 holds are eighth in the American League, and he’s holding opponents to a .224 average, with just three homers surrendered.
Advertisement
Yet any number of statistics don’t illustrate Headrick’s value as much as any phrase that exemplifies reliability.
The man posts, as they say.
“We’re always trying to take inventory with guys on a daily basis,” says Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake. “Are they emotionally up for it? Are they mentally or physically exhausted? He’s done a good job communicating when he needs a day. We typically avoid three in a row and four out of five. There have been a couple instances this year we’ve had to push a guy because of the schedule or where the starters were at.
“He’s always been up for it. It’s a testament to how he’s taken care of his body, how he’s managing his throwing program and how efficient he is out there.”
Advertisement
He’d better be efficient. Running your fastball up to 95 mph, mixing in a slider, a sinker and a splitter isn’t necessarily easy on the arm.
Proctor remains one of the game’s cautionary tales. He pitched in 83 games in both 2006 and 2007 but by 2009 his right elbow had, in the words of orthopedist James Andrews, “turned to mush.”
In fact, nine of the top 10 games pitched totals in Yankees history came under Torre’s watch between 1997 and 2007. Safe to say the Yankees are warier of the season’s odometer in this era.
“Definitely something we’ve got to be mindful of, especially as we head down the stretch,” says Blake. “You gotta be smart.”
Advertisement
But the way these Yankees are built makes this challenging. At 71-55, they have a firm grasp on the No. 1 wild card in the AL, and are five games behind Tampa Bay in the East. Minus reigning MVP Aaron Judge, though, and with Cody Bellinger starting a rehab assignment Thursday, it has been a grind.
The value is reflected in the team’s WAR totals. Cy Young Award favorite Cam Schlittler is No. 1, followed by Bellinger and Fried. No. 4, with 2.6 WAR? That’d be Headrick, selected off waivers from the Twins in February 2025.
Righty set-up man Paul Blackburn (2.3) is tied with 34-homer All-Star Ben Rice for fourth. Weird year.
Brent Headrick of the New York Yankees pitches in the seventh inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Yet Headrick and Co. keep answering. They’ve taken two games off the Orioles here by 3-1 and 5-3 scores, with four of their relievers – Fernando Cruz, Headrick, Blackburn and closer David Bednar – all pitching back-to-back.
Advertisement
While Cruz gave up a game-tying home run Wednesday, all got their jobs done, with the other lefty, Tim Hill, retiring all four batters after starter Will Warren went just four innings.
The Yankees are 41-24 when Headrick pitches, perhaps the best proof of his high-leverage lifestyle.
“They’ve been awesome,” says manager Aaron Boone. “It’s why we’re in this position playing where we are now, is the strength of our starting rotation, anchored by Bus at the end.”
Headrick calls the bullpen’s success “contagious,” and it is evident. The unit ranks second in the majors with a 3.02 ERA and seventh in strikeouts per nine innings, buttressed by a precision that comes with a 2.49 strikeout-walk ratio that ranks ninth in MLB.
Advertisement
He’s pitched three times in four days on a half-dozen occasions, though the Yankees have avoided throwing him three days in a row, for now.
Still, showing up, in a sense, is half the battle.
“I take a ton of pride. I love being able to help this team win games any day I can,” says Headrick. “Whenever that opportunity comes and they call my name, it’s my job to be ready and I’m going to go out there and give it everything I have.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When Yankees call, lefty reliever Brent Headrick answers every time: ‘Attack the day’
