A Look at David Robertson’s Career
The Yankees had a fun draft in 2006. In the first round, they nabbed Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain. Rounds 8 and 9 produced Dellin Betances and Mark Melancon.
But when you go down the full 50-round list, another name stands out: Alabama reliever David Robertson, chosen in the 17th round. Pitchers the Yankees chose before him include Tim Norton, Casey Erickson, Nicholas Peterson, Daniel McCutchen (109 career games, mostly with the Pirates), Gabe Medina, and Paul Patterson. Norton is a sad story. In 2011, he was lights out in Trenton, and the Yankees moved him to Scranton, intending to promote him to New York within a few days. He blew out his arm in his first Scranton appearance and never pitched again.
It’s important to note that Robertson was (mostly) a reliever for the Crimson Tide, given how so many top relievers are failed starters. Robertson started three games in college. As a professional, he pitched in 979 games, starting two of them. One on a rehab stint in 2012 and the other when the Tampa Bay Rays did their “Opener” thing with him in 2021.
When you are a reliever chosen in the middle rounds, you want to make a strong first impression. Robertson did just that, jumping three levels during his debut 2007 campaign, pitching to a 0.96 ERA in 84.1 innings, allowing only 45 hits (zero home runs) while striking out 113. He would make his MLB debut a year later.
Only three years removed from college, Robertson eventually became a key member of the Yankees’ 2009 World Series Championship squad. What made that more fun was that it was hard to see it coming. While he showed signs in his 2008 debut, he compiled a 5.34 ERA in 30.1 innings. While it wasn’t a long stint, he began the 2009 season in Scranton, not appearing in the Yankees’ bullpen until Game 10. Joe Girardi used him in mop-up duty that day, and he responded by tossing two scoreless innings in a 10-2 loss to Cleveland.
Getting into the “circle of trust” proved to be a challenge, as his first six appearances were in Yankees’ losses. He didn’t earn a save until July 27th. His first hold had to wait until August 15th. While his usage was rising, many of the high-leverage middle-to-late relief spots were given to converted starter Phil Hughes and LOOGY Phil Coke. Of the 191 plate appearances against him in the regular season, only 29 were in high-leverage situations, while 130 were in low-leverage.
The Rise of “Houdini”
In the Top of the 11th in Game 1 against the Minnesota Twins, Girardi faced a dilemma. He already used Chamberlain, Coke, Hughes, Mariano Rivera, Alfredo Aceves, and Damaso Marte. Marte was going to become a story in the World Series, but after being acquired at the 2008 deadline, he was ineffective and injury-prone. His ineffectiveness extended into Game 1, where he allowed two hits to start the 11th.
Robertson was the last man standing. He was a fresh-faced 24-year-old without a postseason game on his resume. Girardi had no choice, as right-handed hitter Michael Cuddyer was strolling to the plate. Robertson, it was.
It didn’t start pretty, as Cuddyer singled to load the bases with nobody out, lowering the Yankees’ win probability to 17%. While this isn’t the Hollywood ending where Robertson strikes out the next three hitters, he induced a lineout, groundout, and flyout to escape the impossible jam, setting up Mark Teixeira‘s walk-off home run in the bottom of the inning.
Eight days later, in Game 2 against the Angels, he made his second career postseason appearance. This time, he (and the defense) created the drama, getting out of jams in the 12th and 13th innings, setting up for a dramatic win, his second in two career postseason games. He was the seventh pitcher used that day. In Game 3, Girardi again used him in extra innings, though he wasn’t the last man standing. Robertson recorded two outs in the bottom of the 10th, when Girardi decided to remove him for Aceves. While I don’t remember the online chatter that day (I can probably look it up in Google Groups!), I am sure people were thrilled when Aceves promptly gave up a pair of hits, which cost the game. “F’n Binder Boy removing Robertson after 11 pitches! We chose this instead of Don Mattingly? Can we dump this moron after the season and bring in a real manager?”
Those were his major postseason contributions. He appeared in both World Series losses, allowing three of four inherited runners to score (a temporary “Fall of Houdini”).
The Overall Career
Robertson finished his career with a 2.93 ERA (2.98 FIP; 143 ERA+) and 179 saves in 881 games. He is ranked 35th all-time in Games Pitched, 70th in saves, and 9th in strikeouts among relievers (1,175). You need at least 1,000 career innings to qualify for rate leaderboards. Robertson fell short of that (894.1), but a 143 ERA+ is dominant. Over his 17-year career, his strikeout rate was 31.9%. Among pitchers with 850+ career innings, that is third all-time (not a typo), behind Kenley Jansen (34.7%) and Billy Wagner (33.2%). The latter is in the Hall of Fame, while the former is destined to get there.
While he is not a Hall of Fame pitcher, he ranks 17th all-time using JAWS. I can already hear people crying over him being ranked higher than stud relievers Rollie Fingers and Bruce Sutter. My answer to that? Being in the vicinity of those legends shows you how underrated Robertson was. He wasn’t better, but he belongs.
In the eyes of the casual observer, Robertson gets dinged because he was rarely a closer. 110 of his 179 saves were compiled between 2014 and 2016. I wonder how many career saves Robertson ends up with if the Yankees ride with him for more than one season after Rivera’s retirement.
While not at the level of his regular-season success, his postseason numbers were solid, compiling a 3.40 ERA in 43 games, striking out 57 hitters in 47.2 innings. He made it to one more World Series after the 2009 run, losing with his Phillies teammates in 2022.
Bottom Line
It is hard to develop a pure reliever. The Yankees drafted five pitchers in one draft who would go on to have some success in relief roles. Betances and Robertson developed into studs. After starting 204 games between 2007 and 2015, Kennedy extended his career five years after moving to the bullpen, and Melancon earned 262 saves while appearing in four All-Star Games. Chamberlain, seen as the most talented in the group, had the “fast rise, slow crash” career arc.
Even with all that, only Robertson and Melancon were developed as relievers from start to finish.
Nowadays, the Yankees struggle with developing relievers, though they are good at taking rejects from other organizations and turning them into something. Since minor league relievers have low trade value, I don’t fret the lack of development. They can take any of their big-arm starting prospects and try a relief role, but that is a last resort, not a goal. Think Jonathan Loaisiga.
Robertson had a superb career and rightfully belongs somewhere on the list of all-time best Yankees’ relievers. Where would I place him? That’s tough:
1. Mariano Rivera
2. Rich Gossage
3. Sparky Lyle
He is somewhere under that line. It’s hard to compare relievers from different eras, especially when you talk about the era before relievers became cool. How can I compare a short reliever like Robertson to guys like Johnny Murphy and Joe Page? Where do I place Dave Righetti, second behind Rivera in saves? Dellin Betances was insane over his 358 games as a Yankee, including an astronomical 177 ERA+. That number jumps to 188 if you exclude his disastrous first eight career games. Love him or not (I am in the latter group), it would be irresponsible to exclude Aroldis Chapman from the conversation.
Whichever way you wish to rank them is your preference. Robertson being in the conversation is a testament to his dominance and longevity, another attribute many relievers struggle to achieve.