The New York Yankees have seen hundreds of hurlers walk through the clubhouse doors. Some stayed for a long time and continued long major league careers elsewhere, while others saw the flame of their professional baseball dreams burn out quickly. For this edition of the Yankees birthday series, we’ll be taking a look at not just a World Series champion with the Bombers, but also someone who established himself with the organization and then went on to be a reliable pitcher for a long career with a handful
of different teams: David Robertson.
David Alan Robertson
Born: April 9, 1985 (Birmingham, AL)
Yankees Tenure: 2008-2014, 2017-2018
“D-Rob,” as he is sometimes called, was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and played high school baseball there, working as a shortstop and a pitcher. After his high school days, he played college baseball for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide before being drafted by the Yankees in the 17th round of the 2006 MLB draft. After two seasons in the minors, Robertson made his MLB debut on June 29, 2008, at 23 years old. His first game would be against a team he would play for in the future and the Yankees’ crosstown rival, the New York Mets. He pitched two innings, allowing four hits and an earned run with no walks and a strikeout.
Robertson pitched in 25 games that season and tallied 30.1 innings, a 4-0 record with a save, but a 5.34 ERA after what was an abysmal start to his career, as he was sent back down to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre in August before being recalled in September.
In 2009, Robertson took on a much more prominent role for the Yankees out of the bullpen. He pitched in 45 games with 43.2 innings to his name and a 3.30 ERA as well, a major jump from his first year. His 130 ERA+ is well above the average, and he was not only a crucial part of the 2009 Yankees regular season, but in the five games he pitched during the Yankees’ postseason run that year, he did not allow a single run and gave up only four hits. He finished the year as a World Series champion, and his performance in the Yankees bullpen certainly showcased that he deserved it.
In 2010 with the Yankees, he took another jump in games played and innings pitched and remained under the 4.00 ERA mark. However, in 2011, he really shone in pinstripes despite being the eighth-inning setup guy for then-closer Mariano Rivera. At the halfway point of the season, Robertson had already tallied 55 strikeouts and made the American League All-Star team as a replacement for David Price. And through the rest of the year, he was just as fantastic. He finished the season with 100 strikeouts on the dot in 70 games played and 66.2 innings pitched. Not only did he also finish with a 4-0 record, but it was simply impossible for anyone to score a run against him, as he ended the season with a whopping 1.08 ERA and a 399 ERA+. As a result, Robertson finished 11th in AL Cy Young voting and 22nd in AL MVP voting in one of the best seasons for a reliever that has ever been played.
Over the next couple of seasons, which weren’t as impressive as 2011 but still very good, Robertson continued to establish himself as a premier relief arm for the Yankees and across MLB. After Rivera’s retirement in 2013, Robertson took over the closing role for the 2014 season, his final in that first stint with the Yankees, and he pitched well in the new role. He recorded 39 saves and returned to an ERA just slightly above 3.00 at 3.08 in 64.1 innings pitched. He also finished with the most K’s since that 100 strikeout season, with 96.
After 2014, Robertson joined the Chicago White Sox for three seasons from 2015 to 2017 after signing as a free agent. He posted a 3.28 ERA across those three years as Chicago’s closer and also pitched on Team USA’s gold medal-winning team at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
However, Robertson’s Yankees tenure wasn’t finished yet, as he was traded on July 18, 2017, back to the Bronx from the White Sox. He was in a package that also included Todd Frazier and Tommy Kahnle, while the White Sox received Blake Rutherford, Tyler Clippard, Ian Clarkin, and Tito Polo in return.
In those first 30 games during the 2017 season, he recorded a 1.03 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 35.0 innings. And in his final 69 games as a Yankee in 2018, he finished with a 3.23 ERA and 91 strikeouts — his fourth season with 90+ strikeouts out of the bullpen — in 69.2 innings pitched.
Following that last season in New York, Robertson moved around plenty. He played his 2019 season in Philadelphia for the Phillies before missing 2020 due to injury. In 2021, he put on the Tampa Bay Rays jersey only 12 times before playing for both the Chicago Cubs and heading back to Philadelphia in 2022 at the age of 37, finishing with a 2.40 ERA between the two squads.
In 2023, Robertson joined two new teams — the Mets and the Miami Marlins before playing 2024 with the Texas Rangers and recording his last truly excellent season. At the age of 39, Robertson posted a 3.00 ERA and 99 strikeouts, his first 90+ strikeout season since 2018 with the Yankees, in 72.0 innings.
In his final season at age 40, Robertson made his third return to Philadelphia and pitched in only 20 games before hanging up the spikes following his last game on the mound on September 28, 2025.
