Inside The Pinstripes

Darren O'Day Brings Unquantifiable Deception and Experience to the Yankees' Bullpen

New York Yankees reliever Darren O'Day brings more than experience to the bullpen. Even as the Yankees oldest player, the sidearm right-hander still gets outs

Max Goodman

Even a 13-year veteran feels some first-day jitters when reporting to camp with a new team.

Sidearm reliever Darren O'Day was brought on by the Yankees via free agency this offseason to bolster the back end of the bullpen. As much as he's comfortable standing on a diamond with those in pinstripes, after spending seven seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, putting on New York's historic uniform for the first time on Thursday was particularly special. 

"I'm really excited about it. First day putting the pinstripes on," O'Day said in a Zoom call with reporters. "It felt good. It was really, really exciting to fulfill I think every little boy's dream, to play for the Yankees."

The 38-year-old comes to camp as the oldest player on the entire Yankees roster. He certainly can't light up the radar gun, typically sitting around 86 mph with his sidewinding fastball, but this right-hander is a "righty assassin."

"O'Day's obviously had a really long successful career as an elite setup pitcher and still is that," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on Thursday. "The different angle he creates is an obvious compliment to our bullpen and something that's obviously given him a real advantage against right handed hitters over the years."

After the Yankees traded righty specialist Adam Ottavino to the rival Red Sox this offseason, Boone acknowledged that O'Day can fill the right-hander's shoes. That's not to say, however, that O'Day can't get left-handed hitters out as well.

"I've been able to manage myself against lefties most of my career," O'Day said, explaining that he selfishly loves the three-batter rule as an opportunity to face more hitters. "You might not put me in against three consecutive lefties, although I've done that before too. So, I don't mind facing lefties, I have ways to get them out. And I've always enjoyed facing them."

Across the right-hander's career, over a total of 576.2 innings with five different teams, O'Day has a 2.51 ERA with exactly 600 strikeouts. Last season with the Atlanta Braves, O'Day allowed only two earned runs to score across 19 appearances in the regular season, good for a spectacular 1.10 ERA.

Even for a pitcher that doesn't throw very hard, in a league filled to the brim with flamethrowing relievers, O'Day has figured out a way to stay effective at this level, giving opposing hitters a look at the plate that they're not used to.

"I think there's always a place in this game for different people," he said. "We can quantify just about everything these days. Spin rates, break, all that stuff. But it's tough to quantify deception. And I think that's something that often gets overlooked."

Further, O'Day doesn't have to worry about proving himself to his new teammates. The 38-year-old is already respected by his peers.

"I feel like in his career, he's been very under appreciated," fellow reliever Zack Britton said of O'Day this week. "You look at his numbers and his career. This guy's been an elite reliever for a long time."

Britton and O'Day played together in Baltimore for many years. In fact, Britton credited O'Day for helping him transition from a starter to a reliever with the Orioles, teaching him everything he needed to know about the process and routine of pitching in the late innings.

"I'm really excited that he's here, I think he can help out a lot of our young pitchers. Not just relievers, a lot of young players in general," Britton said. "He was one of the biggest leaders in that clubhouse when we had some good years in Baltimore, taking young players like Manny Machado under his wing actually and I think he carries a lot of respect everywhere he goes."

O'Day relishes the opportunity to continue guiding young players with his experience in this league. He's still capable of contributing while toeing the rubber, and may very well play a huge role in this club's pursuit of a championship in 2021, but his work to serve as a mentor in pinstripes has already begun. 

"I'm here to help them and I've made a lot of mistakes and I've been taught by others and helped with by others that helped me avoid some other mistakes," O'Day said. "So maybe I can pass that knowledge down to one more generation, one more group of young guys and I can enjoy watching them pitch for the next 15, 20 years."

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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