Despite Postseason Struggles, Yankees Confident Adam Ottavino Can Be Effective Against Astros

About three hours into Game 3 of the ALCS, Adam Ottavino walked off the mound to a cascade of boos from a frustrated crowd that had seen the Yankees offense get opportunities in five of seven innings against Astros ace Gerrit Cole only to be unable to score runs.

It was 2-0 when Ottavino entered and 2-0 when he exited after walking George Springer and allowing a single to Jose Altuve. By the time the inning ended it was 4-0 and Ottavino was charged with those runs.

A little while later, Ottavino stood at his locker in the Yankee clubhouse and answered wave after wave of questions. The rule of thumb is relievers don't often get the media pack around them unless one of two things happens - a milestone or a rough outing.

And for Ottavino, the only Yankee pitcher to appear in all six games of the postseason, it was the latter that drew attention. Not because it was the first, but because it continued a pattern of tough outings that gave him an 11.57 ERA in those appearances, so there he stood quietly and sharing his frustration.

"I was just mad at myself," Ottavino said afterward at his locker. "It's frustrating when you go out there and don't perform the way you want to when you have a good mindset. I wanted it. Just didn't happen."

In 2 1/3 innings, Ottavino has allowed three runs, walked three and allowed six hits. During those outings, he has thrown 60 pitches to 16 hitters.

In the ALDS, Ottavino faced one batter in two outings, mostly because both of those encounters resulted in walks to Minnesota slugger Nelson Cruz. In the other ALDS outing, he pitched a scoreless sixth inning in a stress-free 8-2 win.

It is the ALCS where Ottavino's struggles are more noticeable, especially since the walks to Cruz occurred in games the Yankees won by scores of 10-4 and 5-1. He allowed two hits in a scoreless inning in

The Yankees have deployed their bullpen for 15 2/3 innings so far in the ALCS and you can figure on seeing Ottavino more. While current performance may lead some to think otherwise, it's not the case for manager Aaron Boone.

Boone saw Ottavino post a 1.90 ERA, a 1.31 WHIP in 73 appearances that covered 66 1/3 innings. He got 88 strikeouts, down from the 112 in 77 2/3 innings in 2018 with Colorado. Boone also saw Ottavino hold right-handed hitters to a .177 average,

It is why he answered the first question about Ottavino on Wednesday's conference call with a 219-word response and then answered the follow-up inquiry with a 91-word answer to reiterate his confidence.

"I still think he's got to play an important role for us, especially against this Houston lineup that a lot of their great players are right-handed hitters," Boone said. "And just the way we're built and set up, he's going to have to still get important outs for us. I still feel like he's capable of that."

"I don't think this is a situation where the moment or the playoffs or anything. I feel like he has the right mindset. I feel like he has confidence, he's just struggled a little bit with his command. I thought last night was a good example of coming in, and obviously a tough spot in the lineup when you're facing the top of the order there.

"And I felt like he was in the midst of having a good start to that inning with Springer where he got ahead of him 1-2, made some really good pitches, and then didn't make a few good pitches where he ends up walking that leadoff hitter, which really obviously hurt him."

For Ottavino, the problems are mostly rooted in command of the slider.

In Game 1 against Minnesota, he got ahead of Cruz with a swinging strike on the slider and a called strike with his fastball. He threw four more sliders and Cruz never moved his bat since each pitch was well out of the strike zone.

In Game 2 against Minnesota, Ottavino threw 19 pitches in the seventh inning of an 8-1 game with a few sliders out of the strike zone the Twins did not jump at.

In Game 3, the same scenario unfolded where he walked Cruz. This time it was on four pitches, three that were sliders. After throwing two out of the zone and one at the top of the zone that was called a strike, Ottavino missed on a two-seam fastball that Cruz took for ball four.

Ottavino appeared for 10 pitches in the series opener in Houston and got each out on the slider. He retired George Springer in a slider that was up in the zone and that was a 392-foot fly ball and got Alex Bregman on a double play on a slider that was high and slightly inside.

The long and loud out may have foreshadowed Ottavino's fifth postseason appearance. After Chad Green retired all six hitters, the Yankees opted to bring in Ottavino to face Springer again after taking a 2-1 lead on Justin Verlander.

The night before Springer just missed going deep against Ottavino.

This time Springer did not miss on the same pitch located near the same part of the strike zone as the ball traveled 418 feet over the left-center field fence. It came on the first pitch, almost as if Springer used his memory from the previous night in this encounter.

Ottavino was able to Michael Brantley to chase a slider for strike three and finished his outing by allowing a hit to Altuve on his cutter before striking out Bregman on a high fastball. Then Ottavino ahead 1-2 by getting a swing and miss on a low slider but missed badly on his slider to force a full count and then missed with his fastball, resulting in a walk. Then came Altuve's single on a fastball over the plate.

The Yankees have used their relievers for 15 2/3 out of the 28 innings in the ALCS. It was designed this way when they signed Ottavino to a three-year, $27 million deal and re-signed Zack Briton at three years, $39 million.

And while the popular concept of not sticking with struggling players in the postseason, it appears the Yankees are willing to keep deploying Ottavino with the hopes he will not be answering more questions about what went wrong.

"I'll stay ready for my next chance and work really hard behind the scenes and be confident when I go in there again," Ottavino said. "That's pretty much all I can do."