One of the true bright spots of the first two months of the Yankees 2012 season has been the performance of their bullpen. If someone told you a year ago that Mariano Rivera, Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson would all be on the DL at the same time but their absence would have little negative impact on the quality of New York’s relief pitching, you’d call that person crazy. But that’s exactly what’s happening, right now. Raffie Soriano and Boone Logan are stepping up big time and their getting a huge assist from today’s Pinstripe Birthday Celebrant.

As of today, Cory Wade has appeared in 19 games for New York this season and pitched 21.2 innings. He has struck out 25 hitters, walked just three and allowed only five earned runs for an ERA of 2.08. He’s no flash in the pan either. Last year, this right-handed native of Indianapolis appeared in 40 games for the Yankees, went 6-1 with an ERA of just 2.04.

Wade came up to the big leagues with the Dodgers in 2008 and pitched well for Manager Joe Torre. He then injured his shoulder in 2009 and required surgery. The Dodgers released him and he signed with Tampa but never pitched an inning for the Rays. The Yankees signed him in June of 2011 and with his arm completely healed, Wade’s been pitching well ever since. He’s not a hard thrower. His fastball tops out at about 90 miles per hour but he has very good command of four different pitches and has been mixing speeds masterfully since he donned the pinstripes. Let’s hope it continues.

Wade shares his May 28th birthday with another very effective Yankee relief pitcher from the 1950s. Happy Memorial Day.