While Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman are the big names in the Yankees bullpen, Chasen Shreve has a 1.83 ERA so far. The southpaw has allowed four earned runs in 19.2 innings over 17 appearances.
Shreve attended the College of Southern Nevada before being drafted by the Braves.
While many relievers, including Betances, were staring pitchers in the minors, Shreve didn’t make a single start as he moved up through the minors. He made his major league debut with the 2014 Braves and was traded the following January to the Yankees.
He went 6-2 with a 3.09 ERA on the 2015 playoff team and went 2-1 with a 5.18 ERA last season.
The highlight of this season came when he pitched three innings of the Yankees 16-inning victory at Wrigley Field against the Cubs, picking up the win. Five of his appearances have been for one-third or two-thirds of an inning. He took a minute to speak with NY Sports Day.
NYSD: With a lot of the appearances you have, is it more or less pressure trying to get one or two outs in an appearance?
Shreve: I think the pressure comes in situation not so much how many batters I face. I think it’s important to be the same no matter if you’re going three innings or a hitter. Because if you’re just like ‘Oh, I just need to get this one guy out’, you kind of take off the gas a little bit, and if they get a hit or a homer or whatever, now you got no outs and you gave up a run. And to relievers, one run is a big deal, so you just gotta be the same. You’ve gotta be prepared the same and just be focused whether it’s one hitter or three innings.
NYSD: What’s it like sharing a bullpen with Betances and Chapman?
Shreve: I’ve been with Dellin for three years now. He’s great. Talk about doing the same thing every day, he does the same stretches every day, prepares the same way every day. And I think we all kind of fall into that routine, and that’s a good thing to have.
NYSD: A lot of relievers were starters and then they converted, but you were always a reliever. How were you able to figure that out so early?
Shreve: It wasn’t really my choice. When I got drafted, I had shoulder inflammation, so they put me in the pen just to get my feet wet, and then I was going to end up becoming a starter the next year because I was a starter in college. And I started out bad the next year and I stayed in the pen, finished strong, and the next year I did great in the pen, so I just kind of fell into that role and just moved my way up.