Zach Britton is ready to help the Yankees win however he can in the postseason

The last time Zach Britton pitched in the postseason before this season was in 2014, a combined 4-2/3 innings between the ALDS and ALCS against the Tigers and Royals, respectively. He let up five hits, allowed two earned runs, and struck out five. When he made his first postseason appearance in pinstripes in the AL Wild Card Game against the A’s on Wednesday night, he lasted a full inning but allowed two runs off of two hits — the only runs Oakland would score in their loss.

Between those two appearances, he was notoriously left sitting in the bullpen during the Orioles’ 2016 Wild Card Game against the Toronto Blue Jays, a decision by manager Buck Showalter that many connect directly to the Jays defeating Baltimore 5-2 in extra innings. In the intervening years between his postseason appearances, besides just being part of one of the most infamous decisions of Showalter’s time in Baltimore, Britton has also grown up a lot and approaches pitching with a different mindset than he did a few seasons ago.

That evolution has put him in a position to help New York win any way he can while still taking a moment to enjoy the experience of pitching in Yankee Stadium from a different perspective than that of a visiting closer. Talking to him near the end of the regular season, before a game against his old team (which was well on its way to a dismal 47-115 record), he was relaxed yet antsy about getting to the postseason. Despite only being in New York a few months, he seems to have already internalized a New Yorker attitude he admits he’s fully aware of: the season doesn’t start until the playoffs, no matter if you had 100 wins this year.

The trade to the Yankees was a long time coming and, understandably, the year-plus of trade speculation took a toll. Who he’d be traded to, whether he was healthy enough to be traded (he ruptured his achilles last December), whether the trade would happen in the offseason or at the deadline. He had teammate and fellow subject of constant trade talk Manny Machado to commiserate with, which helped, but says “I think there was a sense of relief that it finally happened.”

Britton knew when he got traded to New York that he wasn’t going to be the star closer like he was in Baltimore, since they already had Aroldis Chapman signed to a long-term deal. So Britton says it was “exciting” being able to expand into different roles with such a storied team, and that the Yankees “gave [him] a lot of heads up” in regards to what they wanted him to do before the trade was finalized.

He put in 25 innings of work in 25 games in the regular season after joining the Yankees, allowing 18 hits and 10 runs (eight earned) for a 2.88 ERA and a 1.160 WHIP. And he still doesn’t feel like he’s 100% recovered from the achilles injury.

For some players, it might weigh on them that their bodies don’t feel 100% after an injury when they’ve been dropped in such a high pressure market just before the postseason. Britton admits that he’ll probably be “a little behind” physically until he has a chance to recuperate over a full offseason, but that’s not worrying him. He says,

“I was able to kind of slow things down here and be like hey it’s just about winning ... Whatever I have to do to be successful I’ll find a way to do it and I can reset in the offseason and get back physically to where I was in years past and things like that. But right now it’s about finding a way to help the team win.”

Fortunately he has the wherewithal to not be shaken by any hiccups in his transition to the Yankees, physically or mentally, as evidenced by a recent late-game flub that could have cost the team a win against Boston in September. During a ninth inning rally from the Red Sox, a comebacker to Britton would have been an easy double play ball to end the game. Instead he flubbed the throw, a run scored, and the game continued.

Earlier in his career, that would have unsettled Britton. That he would have panicked, focused too much on the baserunners, thought about the chance of blowing the game. Now he thinks more along the lines of “It’s not as out of control as it may seem from the outside,” that he can’t change what happened with an error or bad pitch placement. All he can do is be focused on the pitch and proactive in making tweaks in the moment so the same mistake doesn’t happen again.

As he adjusts to a more varied relief role and a new fanbase in a stressful market, it helps that he’s no stranger to Yankee Stadium. He spent his entire career in the AL East, and is no stranger to working through high pressure situations in front of some tough fanbases. He says,

“As a visiting player coming into Yankee Stadium it’s a lot easier than being at home obviously, but I think that experience of coming in and pitching in some big situations against the Yankees in this environment and in Fenway, things like that, I think have helped me with the transition.”

Coming from the “big little city” of Baltimore, Britton has always appreciated the Yankees fanbase for their baseball IQ, even though they were rooting against him. He describes them as always being “very knowledgeable about baseball” and compares their attitudes to fans at other stadiums who “just yell at you and cuss at you the entire time.” He’d much rather have the “Congratulations, but we hope we beat you...congrats on the great year but I hope you give it up” reception in the Bronx.

So, if he does indeed help the team win in whatever role he’s asked, will Britton stick around to enjoy a fanbase he’s always appreciated for more than just October? Heading into free agency, he’s not sure. He confesses New York is hard to get around and a different city to get used to (relatable for any recent New York transplant) but that being able to experience a different organization is helpful before entering the first free agency of his career.

That’s a conversation for a different time though, because right now it’s all about making his new fanbase happy and getting wins for the team however he can in October.