Mariano Rivera came in with two outs in the 8th inning last night, and promptly retired Melvin Mora on three pitches. He then sat through a long inning in which the Yankees scored 6 runs, and most expected him to be done for the evening. However, Joe Girardi brought him out for the 9th, and he allowed one hit, a homer to Reimold. Here are some opinions on whether that move was prudent.
Look, Rivera is among the most respected players in the game. In theory, he knows his body better than anyone. And the conventional wisdom in the precise situation that unfolded last night _ bring in your closer to get out of a tight spot in the eighth, and then your club boosts its lead from tight to comfortable _ is to send your closer back out for the ninth. Because if the other guys falter, you’re going to want to get your closer, except that he’s out of the game already.
This was different, though. This is Rivera, clearly still not at full strength. And this was an 11-3 lead over the lowly Orioles. The Yankees could’ve trusted pretty much anyone with that sort of cushion. And frankly, even if they had blown it in cataclysmic fashion, you’d still rather have that than a Rivera injury.
There was simply no reason _ given the date on the calendar and the long bottom of the eighth _ for Rivera to be back out there.
Rivera is a precious and fragile commodity. I know Girardi wants to keep such an important leader happy by building those save totals. But Rivera is already the all-time AL leader in saves. He hardly needs an extra one on a Wednesday night in May to enhance his legacy. What he needs is protection for the long season. So his pitching in the ninth inning on Wednesday night was just dumb.
Last night, though, Joe Girardi made what I’d call an inconsistent decision. After bringing Mariano Rivera into the game in the eighth inning and the score 5-3, Girardi opted to leave his closer in for the ninth despite the Yankees turning the game into a rout with a six-run bottom of the inning. One night earlier, in an almost identical situation – this time the Yanks were up one and CC Sabathia was ready to go back out, only to see the Yankees score seven runs in the bottom of the seventh – Girardi pulled his ace.
So, the question begs: If he did it with his best starter, why not with his best reliever? Especially one who may or may not be 100 % healthy?
All of these writers got their answer when Girardi explained after the game that Mariano needs to build up arm strength. When he struggled a week ago, the team stated that he just did not have the requisite arm strength to reach his normal velocity. If Joe and Mariano feel that he needs to pitch so as to build his arm up to where it needs to be, who am I to argue? This had nothing to do with getting Mo a save, a notion that I find ridiculous, nor is it similar to the situation of a starter who has thrown a lot of pitches to this point. Finally, this was not risking his health. Rather, it was a move to try and bolster his health, and a move that is really quite defensible.
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7 Responses to Bringing Mariano Out For 9th
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Mariano needs arm strength and pitching in a non pressure situation, well rested, is a very good way to help him redevelop it.
There’s big difference between overusing a guy and breaking down his arm and pitching him to rebuild it and make it stronger.
Girardi did nothing wrong there.
Torre, now there’s a guy who knew how to wear down relievers arm with gratutitous over use.
Moshe, I can see your point, and this is a strange case where I think neither you nor the sports writers are wrong. However my one concern, now that I hear that Mo was trying to build up arm strength, was that he had to wait about 20 minutes (or whatever it was) between throwing pitches. No way would a reliever every do that in the bullpen, in fact thats how Bruney claims he was injured.
If it really was just an issue regarding arm strength, couldn’t Mo have gone back out to the pen, or to the cages below the stadium and thrown another 20+ pitches? Thats why I think the save situation had a little something to do with this case.
I guess. I just think that when it comes to things like conditioning or other things that we dont have all the necessary info on, it is hard to criticize the manager.
It made sense. My first inclination would be to go to Tomko or something but upon further thought it made sense. Mo needs to build arm strength and re-establish himself to an extent (mostly get comfortable). The Yanks are hot on a win streak and some freak come from behind 9th inning rally could really put a dent in that. Can you imagine the Os battle back to even after Mo has been removed and then someone like Veras loses the game? I know the odds are slim but in this case the risk reward points to leavin Mo in (imo). Anything within reason to keep the team hot.
If he needs to “build arm strength” then bring him to start the eighth. Looked like a lack of trust in Coke to me.
I didnt think anyone had a problem with that part of the move. Mora has awful career numbers against Mo and is a right-handed bat. Coke came in to get the two lefties that he retired and that was it. I am sure he knew that if he gave up a hit and got to Mora, there was no way he was going to face him.
I don’t get how an inning or so in a comfortable no problem game is even an issue.
If anything Mo has been lightly used so far and needed the work.Geez.
Throwing in the pen is like running on a treadmill. Just isn’t the same.