We will have a full recap later in the day, but the big story in today’s loss to the Royals was Joe Girardi’s bullpen deployment at the end of the game. Joba Chamberlain went 6 and left with the Yankees holding a 4-3 lead. Brian Bruney pitched a perfect 7th, and Damaso Marte got two lefties to start the 8th. Billy Butler, a righty, pinch hit for lefty Mike Jacobs, prompting Joe to go to Jose Veras, who issued a five pitch walk. Phil Coke was then brought in to face switch hitter Brayan Pena, who doubled. Two righties later, it was 6-4, and the backlash against the manager began.
There were a few instances that have been questioned in the hours since the game:
1) Removing Joba after 6 innings and 87 pitches. I have no issue with this one. It was Joba’s first start of the year, and most of it was played in damp conditions. Considering that Joba has an innings limit, it makes sense to conserve some of the bullets in his arm.
2) Removing Bruney even though he cruised through the 7th. This I only heard once or twice, and with good reason. With two lefties coming up, there was no reason to leave Bruney in with Marte available.
3) Removing Marte after two hitters due to the insertion of a middling right-handed batter. This holds a bit more merit, although I disagree with the criticism. The reason you carry twelve pitchers is exactly for a situation such as this one- they needed one out to get to Mariano, and setting the platoon situation to your advantage always makes sense in that spot.
4) Going to Veras instead of Mariano- This was the right move as well. Going to Mo in those conditions for more than one inning following shoulder surgery would not have been a prudent move. The remainder of the bullpen should be able to notch one out.
5) Pulling Veras for Coke- This is where Joe lost me. Veras came in and walked a batter. However, the next hitter was Brayan Pena, a weak hitting switch-hitter. They gained no platoon advantage from the move, and the fact that the next two batters were righties made the decision look worse. Joe should have stayed with Veras, or possibly gone with Edwar (why was he guaranteed a roster spot if he was not going to be used in big spots?). Coke has not proven that he can be trusted in that spot to this point, and there was no reason to put the game on his shoulders.
Ultimately, I think Joe made one mistake, in pulling Veras for Coke. It cost the Yankees the game, and will likely be rehashed should the team miss the postseason by the narrowest of margins. However, ultimately the relievers need to make pitches, and they did not today. Outside of Rivera, Bruney, or Marte, I cannot imagine that anyone is safe with Robertson and Melancon lurking in the minors. Veras and Coke, in particular, need to pick it up, or they may find themselves on a bus to Scranton soon enough.
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7 Responses to Joe Girardi's Bullpen Moves
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TIQ IQ
Moshe, did you want him to leave Veras out there? After walking his first man on FIVE pitches?
There was nothing wrong with the Coke move, it just didn’t work.
BTW-Check out PA’s take. I don’t agree with his conclusion but he did a nice job of breaking it down.
http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2009/04/12/breaking-down-a-breakdown/
Yeah, I wanted Veras to stay in. His 4th ball was a strike, and he did not look all over the place. Reading Pete, it seems that he and I agree on every point.
The problem with bringing in Veras in any close game is that he will put the first batter he faces on base better then 40% of the time. Whether or not a certain pitch was a strike isn’t important at all. Veras should never have been used like he was today. Girardi knows the numbers on Veras so imo this is very poor managing.
Agree with U Moshe. Removing Veras was the killer. I was screaming at my phone then, so this is not second-guessing. If U were gonna pull Veras with Bruney unavailable, the only guy U bring in in that situation IMO is Mo. It was too much of a high-leverage situation for Coke, just like you said.
From Joe Sheehan’s analysis of the Yanks’ pen (from Moshe’s post on March 3rd):
“Phil Coke and David Robertson were making contributions in low-leverage situations.”
That’s the key word right there. Coke was great last season. But it was at the end of the season when it was clear we weren’t making the playoffs anyway. So IMO he shouldn’t have been out there today.
If U don’t wanna over-use Mo as a result of his shoulder surgery, then just leave Veras in.
I thought the Coke move was OK. I would have had Edwar ready, if not already in the game, but I think Coke is going to be fine-he just had a bad outing.
Veras walked a batter, that’s not the end of the world. Don’t tell me he couldn’t have gotten Pena out. As already said, Joe should have brought in Mo or let Veras in, no reason to make a switch against a switch hitter.
Another thing: I would have brought in Mo after the Pena double with the game still tied. It was obvious they would not come back against Soria so at least try to win this game.
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