It has been no secret that 2021 has been an absolute disaster for the Yankees reliever Zack Britton. Before spring training, he had a bout with COVID-19, then before he could pitch in a game, elbow discomfort revealed a bone chip that required arthroscopic surgery and sidelined him until June 12th. After making just five appearances upon his mid-June return, Britton returned to the injured list with a left hamstring strain.
Worst of all, his performance this year has been absolutely terrible, surrendering 13 runs in just 16 innings while walking 14. He has been so bad, in fact, that after blowing the save in the Field of Dreams Game last Thursday night, he specifically requested that Boone not use him in the ninth inning at the moment, saying that he doesn’t deserve to pitch in them.