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CHICAGO — With little time to think and lots of familiar faces in the stands, Jake Cousins notched the first save of his career in the Yankees’ 4-1 win over the White Sox on Tuesday.
The right-hander did so with family and friends in attendance at Guaranteed Rate Field. His cheering section didn’t have to travel far, as Cousins grew up about 45 minutes away in St. Charles, Ill.
“It was a ton of fun,” he said. “Having a ton of family this week, getting the first save here, like at home, in front of my family is really special.”
With Clay Holmes unavailable to close after throwing 45 pitches on Sunday, Cousins didn’t have an easy assignment. Tommy Kahnle certainly didn’t help matters, forcing Cousins to enter a pressure-packed situation after starting the ninth with a walk and a double, which brought the tying run to the plate.
Such a scenario could be heart-pounding for a pitcher that’s never recorded a save, but Yankees bullpen coach Mike Harkey made sure that nerves didn’t have a chance to set in.
The way Cousins told it, he didn’t know he’d be closing until Harkey told him to start warming up after the ninth inning began.
“Harkey knows what he’s doing down there,” Cousins said. “The phone didn’t ring before he told me to get going, so I’m pretty sure they told him ahead of time, and he just knew, ‘First save, don’t tell him. Don’t let him sit with it.’ So I appreciate that, because the adrenaline was definitely going.”
That adrenaline helped Cousins start off with a strikeout, as he got Korey Lee to chase a slider low and away.
A four-pitch walk to Miguel Vargas then loaded the bases with one out, but Cousins got a shallow flyball out of Nicky Lopez before striking Brooks Baldwin out with five straight sliders, all thrown for strikes.
“Not a lot of margin for error there coming in,” Aaron Boone said afterward. “He did a good job being in that situation, not deviating from who he is and what he’s so good at. He generated a lot of swing and miss with that slider.”
While Cousins had not recorded a save until Tuesday, the 30-year-old has been a bright spot in a Yankees bullpen that is struggling.
The righty was actually acquired from his hometown White Sox in March, much to the joy of personnel in the Yankees’ front office. Since then, he’s recorded a 2.25 ERA over 24 innings.
Cousins’ first two outings with the Yankees didn’t go well in April, as he totaled four hits, three runs (1 earned), three walks and a homer over three innings. But he’s been lights out since returning from a minor league demotion, logging a 2.14 ERA over his last 21 frames. He’s also got 30 Ks over that span, giving the Yankees’ pen some semblance of the punchout stuff its mostly lacked this season.
“He’s obviously carved out a good role for himself with us,” Boone said. “He’s done a great job with us.
“I know how excited our front office was when we were able to get him because we felt like he was capable of this kind of stuff. It’s a special slider. I mean, that thing is real. You see some really rough swings from some good hitters.”
Cousins didn’t have much experience before joining the Yankees, pitching in 51 games for the Brewers from 2021-2023. He recorded a 3.08 ERA and flashed his strikeout potential over that span, but he also battled multiple arm injuries.
Now healthy, he’s showing the Yankees what he can do. The White Sox helped with that, telling Cousins to be more confident in his stuff during spring training.
“I would say I’ve grown a lot,” he said. “It’s just developing confidence and trusting your stuff in the zone so that you can get guys to chase out of the zone. So everything they’ve given me here has been good feedback, and I’m just trying to roll with it.”
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