Adam Ottavino Has Been Historically Bad This Postseason in Wild Turn of Events
By Chris Pyo
During last year's MLB free agency, reliever Adam Ottavino famously stated that he would strike out Babe Ruth every time he were to face him.
Well, he looks pretty stupid now, especially after how abysmal he's been for the New York Yankees out of the bullpen this postseason. Straight up, the righty has been a major letdown.
Northeastern's Adam Ottavino this postseason: 7 appearances, 7 outs recorded. https://t.co/jxM1hbAYCK
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) October 18, 2019
During the regular season, Ottavino shined for the Yankees in high leverage situations, going 6-5 with a sparkling 1.90 ERA and 88 strikeouts. Coming into the postseason, he was expected to be a huge factor in determining how deep of a run the Yankees made.
No one thought that Ottavino would be hanging his sliders as poorly as he has thus far, though. It's getting so ugly that many fans and pundits are calling for Ottavino's demotion in the bullpen.
Adam Ottavino: 4th appearance without getting an out this postseason.
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) October 18, 2019
That's the most by any pitcher in a single postseason in MLB history.
Manager Aaron Boone has trusted his star reliever for too long, and chances are high that Yankee fans will probably see Ottavino trotting out to the mound at some point in Game 5 as well.
At this point in the playoffs, Boone's really showing how much blind faith he has in Ottavino even after his putrid performances, and that could spell even more trouble for the Yankees as they look to avoid losing three straight ALCS games at home.