I’m not referring to Phil Hughes, who apparently has been pitching out of the bullpen from the witness protection program lately. I’m referring to the Jeckyl and Hyde nature of one Mr Phil Coke. Phil Coke has some of the most stark splits of any Yankee reliever this season. Check this out:
| By Breakdown | ERA | W | L | SV | SVO | G | GS | CG | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | AVG |
| Home | 3.19 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 31.0 | 21 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 22 | .193 |
| Away | 7.84 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 20.2 | 20 | 21 | 18 | 3 | 11 | 19 | .267 |
| Day | 9.45 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 | 26 | 21 | 21 | 4 | 8 | 15 | .325 |
| Night | 2.27 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 31.2 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 26 | .144 |
| By Day/Month | ERA | W | L | SV | SVO | G | GS | CG | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | AVG |
| April | 3.72 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 8 | .206 |
| May | 5.73 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | .237 |
| June | 0.71 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 12.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 14 | .122 |
| July | 5.59 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 8 | .250 |
| August | 11.42 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 8.2 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 7 | .314 |
He’s been good at home, but bad away. He’s terrific at night but horrendous in the daytime. June was Mariano-esque and August has been Chein Ming Wang-esque. His overall WHIP of 1.14 is good, but the 9 HRs allowed in just 51.1 IP tells you that when he gets hit, he gets hit hard. He’s a lefty fly ball pitcher (1.5 GB/FB) and they tend to do better at Yankee Stadium than elsewhere, especially places like Fenway Park.
Now it’s normal for relievers to be up and down, its the nature of the role and relates to the limited abilities of the pitchers involved. One of the reasons Mariano Rivera is who he is would be the remarkable consistency he’s shown throughout his career. But come October, I’d pay close attention to some of these splits. In a day game, I’d only use him as a LOOGY (Lefty one out guy) and I’d prefer to stay away from him on the road. If I must use him, I try to keep him out of game changing situations. It’s also possible that Damaso Marte will earn some of Girardi’s trust in September, and get some of that high leverage work. Personally, I’d feel much better if he did.
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0 Responses to A Tale of Two Phils
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TIQ IQ
I’m not convinced at the significance of the sample for the day/night and home/road splits. That said, I do agree that Coke should be used primarily as a LOOGY, though Joe seems to love using him as a setup man.
tough to tell – sample size and all that. He’s got good stuff, though not as good as it was last year (his velocity is down more than 1mph on all his pitches from last year). The fact that he’s got good stuff and only pitched 60 something major league innings preaches patience. He may figure this all out later on and still become a top back of the bullpen type guy.
I think he’s been worn down by all the appearances.
It is his first year being counted on out of the bull pen to come in and get outs, he has shown an ability to be a good lefty out of the pen I just don’t want him to be the only lefty, if Marte is healthy and can continue to pitch like he has been it will make Coke a lot more valuable. I think going forward he will be even better because he will learn from his mistakes and he will have built up the stamina for a full season out of the pen.