Yankees' Chad Green Opener Experiment is Clearly Working

The New York Yankees have suffered injuries to their pitching staff all season, which has indirectly led them to the newest innovation in baseball: starting relievers as openers, then following them with matchup long men.

The reliever in question who's been making those frequent spot starts for the Bronx Bombers is Chad Green.

So far, it has worked in the Yankees favor to use Green to begin games.

Against all odds, the Yankees are 4-0 this season when Green starts and a reliever caddies. In his most recent start against Cleveland on Sunday, Green extended to two innings, tossing shutout ball while striking out three.

Green's been an entirely different man since returning from a retooling stint in the minor leagues earlier this year; though his fastball command hasn't been perfect, his last nine outings have been far closer to the superior hurler Yankee fans watched in 2017 and 2018.

The early part of Green's 2019 campaign was pockmarked with abject disasters; the grand slam he allowed to the Angels' Justin Bour, and the swift devastation the Royals put on him before an Austin Romine walk-off bailed him out spoke volumes.

But since getting his mind right, Green's confidence has been contagious for the Yanks. It's even spread directly to the change-of-pace back they've been using behind him, wily lefty Nestor Cortes. Of course, Cortes has done the lion's share of the work in these opener games, and he's done a spectacular job of messing with hitters' timing, further mucking up the matchups.

No, starting Chad Green doesn't guarantee a victory; these stats won't be spotless forever. But though most Yankee fans aren't confident when he toes the rubber, the turnaround has been special, and he's thriving in a new role.