download Tomorrow Never Dies Mark Feinsand’s latest blog piece discusses a topic that has become painfully obvious to all Yankee fans, the trouble Joe Girardi is having finding anyone to get some big outs late in games. He writes:
Anyway, my view is that there are some potentially-able arms in the minors that perhaps deserve a shot sooner than the Yankees were hoping. I think the bullpen will be vastly different 30 days from now. However, guys like Veras are out of options. He’d likely get claimed on waivers, so the Yanks don’t want to send him down. Of course, some might argue that wouldn’t be much of a loss. Melancon, I think, won’t ever spend another day in the minors and eventually will move up the food chain in terms of roles. Brian Bruney being out really hurts, obviously.
I think he nailed it. In the case of Jose Veras, they’re in a bit of a bind. He would likely benefit from a AAA stint where he can put some good outings together and gain some confidence. But he’s out of options, so they either fix him on the big league level or release him. He’s never been a consistent strike-thrower, so he’s ideally used in low leverage situations backed up by guys who are better (similar to Edwar). But with Bruney out, Veras has been thrust into a more prominent role for which he is ill-suited. I think Veras’ role will get reduced once Bruney comes back to where he gets buried in the pen, and/or has a very short leash. The problem Girardi’s been having lately is the guys he’s replacing Veras with haven’t been much better. So he keeps running him out there.
Mike A over at RAB thinks Girardi’s been falling into Torre-like habits, but I don’t think that’s the case. While he’s right that Marte has been buried (with a 15.19 ERA rightfully so) Girardi has actually done a good job of spreading the workload around among his relievers. The top 6 relievers have between 8-12 IP, and one of them is Bruney who’s been on the DL stuck at 8 innings. Had he been healthy, it would be spread around even more with Bruney picking up a few innings. Marte’s getting buried means he’s going to be used the way he’s been most effective for his career, against Lefties and that’s it. As bad as he’s been this year, he’s still held lefty hitters to a .222 BAA.
Getting length out of the starters is also key to using your bullpen guys in their best roles. That’s been improving lately, with Wang being on the DL and the rest of the rotation giving us length on most days. Another thing that’s contributing to this to a lesser extent is Girardi learning his new starters CC and AJ on the fly. He hasn’t found a feel yet for when to pull these guys and when not to, leading to big innings when the bullpen comes in to messy situations, which they generally make messier. I think he will figure this out, but that’s what April is for.
I’m hopeful that Bruney’s return and Melancon getting settled in to the bigs will provide that bridge to Mariano were all looking for. Eventually you’d like to see the winning formula be Melancon-7th, Bruney-8th and Mo for the 9th. Everything falls into place after that, now Veras or Edwar are only asked to get a few outs here and there, in spots where they have a good matchup. Or they can start an inning clean and be backed up by the more reliable guys. But again, Bruney is the key. If he comes back and gives you quality, that takes the pressure off the rest of the staff and lets you line things up the way you want to and pick your spots with the rest. Even if Melancon isn’t ready yet, Bruney alone can have a huge impact. You can use him as early as the 7th, so now you’d only need to find a few outs most nights from the starters to Bruney.
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0 Responses to The Bullpen Woes Continue
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TIQ IQ
Totally agree on everything but Marte. he hasnt really been a lefty specialist in his career, hes always been a regular reliever. And there wasnt really a spot to use him until last night. That was the only mistake Joe’s made.
You’re right, and I didn’t mean that he was exclusively a lefty specialist, just that he was and has always been most effective vs Lefties. I’m going to edit that to make it more clear.
I hit publish way too soon sometimes. I’m still editing the crap out of this piece, and I published it 33 minutes ago.
Its funny, I logged on to Mike’s post to comment and then noticed you had written as the last comment exactly what I was going to say.
OK, NOW its done. And I mean DONE DONE.
Now tell me what you think.
Magnifico!!!!! Just as an aside, I keep scanning the new Gammons column for mention of the VanEvery debacle, but it doesnt seem to be there. Hmm….
Moshe are you ready to throw Veras under a bus?
Not happy with him….but not going to throw him under the bus. Notice you didnt post after he went his last 7.2 innings and allowed just 2 runs coming into this series.
Moshe go look at what Veras does when he faces his first batter after coming into the game. 5 walks and a home run in 11 appearances so far this season is worse then his career numbers. Veras will NEVER be trustworthy!
The reason I didn’t post is because I was away and has nothing to do with Veras doing well because he can never be consistent imo which is backed up by his poor career performances so far.
For a guy who is generally a one inning type of guy, it makes no more difference what he does against his first batter than what he does with the next few batters. He isnt a specialist, who is only coming in for one guy. He is coming in for an inning.
This is where you are completely WRONG! If the starting pitcher gets into trouble how can you bring in Veras with runners on base? You CAN’T!
I need my bullpen to come into a game throwing strikes an able to get the first batter he faces out and that’s not stinking VERAS! How many times does he have to fail before you understand this?
Veras is always brought in to start innings or with the bases empty, precisely for the reason you state- it takes him a batter to find his stuff. Not every reliever can be used in every situation- I would love if that was not the case, but it is. Compare his inherited runner numbers to, say, Manny Delcarmen. Very similar rate. Some pitchers need to start fresh.
Oh, and Veras has not come in once this season with runners on base.
I understand what you are saying but still having Veras in the pen hurts this team! Now that it’s known that he can’t pitch the 8th inning what value is he to the team? If you are going to pitch the 6th or 7th inning you are very likely going to be brought into a game with a runner on base and since Veras can’t be trusted what’s his role?
I didn’t think the Yankee bullpen would be great, I expected above average production, but damn they’ve been awful thus far.
I’d like to see Robertson used more, he can’t be worse than Edwar and Veras have been.
D-Rob’s numbers are the same as Edwar’s, just with less innings. Anyone would be better than Veras/Marte have been lately.
This discussion has overlooked Phil Coke, who has been among the more solid bullpen contributors this year. Adding him to the mix should give the Yankees four effective pitchers once Bruney returns, along with Mo and Mel. Few teams have more than that.