The life at the far end of a major league bullpen is an uncertain one. Relievers who reside there know to rent rather than buy. They are rarely assigned to get the game’s biggest outs and know that stringing a few bad games together can mean returning to the minors or, if they are out of options, an outright release.
So it was a meaningful moment when Chasen Shreve, who has spent his four seasons with the Yankees dancing along that edge, jogged in from the bullpen to face the Mets on Saturday afternoon.
He was summoned after the Yankees, who did not have Adam Warren or Chad Green available because of a heavy workload the night before, had run through their trusted relievers — David Robertson, Jonathan Holder, Dellin Betances — and after closer Aroldis Chapman had gone awry, losing control of his pitches, and nearly the game.