Hot Stove Scouting Report: David Robertson

Robertson's strikeout pitch is his curveball, so he will try to get in counts where this can be properly leveraged. Pitcher likes to get ahead early in counts with the cutter and can induce weak contact, but if a count gets deep, the pitcher can induce awkward swings and misses with the curveball both in the zone and out of the zone. When he is commanding the curveball well, however, Robertson will drop it in any count, making it incredibly tough on opposing hitters.

Late-innings mentality; short memory; showed poise and was successful replacing the greatest closer of all time; has shown the ability to make adjustments from early in his career, throwing more strikes as a result.

Bulldog on the mound; one of the best curveballs in the game; can generate swings and misses with the pitch in any count; excels at getting hitters to swing and miss on pitches out of the zone; while he doesn't have the high-90s fastball that is associated with closers, Robertson's cutter is both a weak-contact offering and a swing-and-miss offering due to its plus velocity.

Pitcher is under six feet tall, limiting plane; slow to the plate; runners can steal on him; will elevate cutter on occasion, leading to hard contact in the air; average control; will have appearances where he struggles to locate and will give up free passes/hard contact; command/control comes and goes at times; will occasionally get to the side and hang the curveball; susceptible to passed balls/wild pitches given extreme nature of curveball; changeup is below average and he rarely uses it.

Righties and lefties alike can be victimized by the curveball when the pitcher is ahead, so the best means of exploitation is to sit on the cutter early and try to do damage on this offering and protect against the curveball later in counts when he is ahead. Robertson will occasionally miss with the cutter up in the zone early in counts, which is where both righties and lefties have the most success against him. When behind in the count, the hitter can hope for a hanging curveball in the upper quadrants of the zone.

While not an elite stopper in the likes of a Kimbrel or a Chapman, David Robertson proved this season that he can handle the closer's role on a first-division squad and have plenty of success. His cutter and knuckle curveball are his bread-and-butter offerings, and his deuce ranks as one of the best in the game. He should occupy this role for the next three to four seasons into his mid-30s. Whether he accepts a qualifying offer from the Yankees, signs a multi-year extension with the team, or signs a free-agent contract elsewhere is to be determined, but Robertson should remain effective for the foreseeable future due to a relatively clean medical history, efficient and repeatable mechanics that should portend health, and perhaps more importantly, legitimate stuff that will play in the back-end of any bullpen.