Last year, it was Brad Hand and Zack Britton. The following season, it was David Robertson and Justin Wilson. In 2016, Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller dominated the deadline buzz. And so every year around this time, relievers become the talk of the town. In a game in which pitching wins championships and bullpenning is all the rage - especially in the postseason - you can never have enough arms. Now, with the July 31 trade deadline looming and the rumor mill working overtime, it's as if Yates is almost single-handedly powering it. Three weeks ago, he was named an All-Star for the first time in his career. Eddie Matz »Įarlier this season, he won National League Reliever of the Month for April, a month-ish (counting the end of March) in which he went 14-for-14 in save opportunities and posted a 0.56 ERA. What it's REALLY like to get tradedįrom beards to bunnies to Airbnb, the behind-the-scenes stories of how trade deadline swaps affect players, their families and others - both on and off the field. A gift from ESPN NFL Insider Field Yates (no relation), it's but one symbol of the growing attention the 32-year-old hurler is drawing these days. Standing in front of his visitors locker before a late-June game against the Orioles, he wears a red T-shirt that says "YATERS GONNA YATE" on the front of it.
Now the closer for the San Diego Padres, he has gone from mop-up to lockdown. Nearly four years later, Yates is back at Camden Yards, a changed man. I knew when I'd go to the mound that every hitter who stepped in the box was probably better than what I could do." "THAT'S THE WORST I'd ever pitched in my life," says Yates of his nightmare 2015 campaign. Now he's one of the most coveted names on the trade market - if San Diego is willing to part with him. Padres reliever Kirby Yates went from a mop-up man in the AL East to a lockdown closer on the West Coast. He finished with an MLB-best 47 dingers, and promptly cashed in by signing a seven-year, $161 million contract that offseason.įor Davis, and pretty much every hitter who faced the reliever, Kirby Yates was just what the doctor ordered. In his final 30 games after taking Yates deep, he hit over. That one good swing was the start of many good swings for Davis. He hit it high, he hit it far, and he hit it over the fence. The ball practically had "Hit Me" inscribed on it. At 91 mph, the offering was about letter-high and on the outer edge of the plate, where Davis could easily get his hulking arms fully extended. Just like he'd started off the previous five hitters he'd faced that night with a fastball. Predictably, Yates started Davis off with a fastball. A couple weeks later, thanks to September call-ups, he was back in The Show and doing the mop-up thing against Baltimore.
The righty reliever had served up gopher balls in each of his three previous big league appearances, including a two-homer outing against the Texas Rangers that resulted in him getting demoted. Going into that laugher at Camden Yards, Yates was sporting a 9.82 ERA, and had allowed six home runs in 11 innings during a season in which he'd been sent down to the minors on three different occasions. And with Kirby Yates on the mound, the odds of a good swing were better than usual.
YATERS GONNA YATE FULL
He left him in there because Davis begged him to, knowing full well all it takes is one good swing to turn things around.
As for Davis, who was due up in the bottom of the ninth, Showalter left him in there. With Tampa Bay leading 11-0 late, Baltimore manager Buck Showalter used the opportunity to give his workhorses a breather. The Baltimore Orioles were getting throttled by the Tampa Bay Rays at home. He'd gone 2-for-his-last-43 and had struck out in more than half of those at-bats. It was September 2015, back when Davis was still one of the most feared hitters in baseball.
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