Reality hits hard as Yankees’ ‘super bullpen’ vision falls apart

The New York Yankees were supposed to cruise to a comfortable win on Tuesday night. Up 10-1 after four innings and still leading 10-4 after five, it felt like a stress-free evening at the ballpark. But by the ninth, with the lead whittled to one run after Ryan Yarbrough alone conceded four runs, closer David Bednar was laboring just to hold on. He did, narrowly, but the scene captured everything that’s gone wrong with a bullpen that was built to dominate and now just feels like a ticking time bomb.

Those late innings didn’t just test the nerves of fans — it embodied the Yankees’ most unsettling truth right now. They aren’t supposed to be clinging to games like this, not with the firepower Brian Cashman assembled. Yet here they are, nights like this becoming more common, and the fear is gr