Enter Sandman

So last week, I wrote a post about the Red Sox bullpen and how they have locked down the 7^th, 8^th & 9^th innings. You can read that HERE.  This week, its about the Yankees bullpen locking down the 7^th, 8^th & ….. Usually the 9^th inning.

I love this picture!

9^th Inning:  Mariano is the Yankees go-to guy for the 9^th inning, but this week he showed signs that he may actually be human.  He has now allowed runs to score in the past three games he appeared in.  It started Sunday in Boston when he blew the save, continued on Tuesday blowing the save against the Angels and yesterday again he almost blew the save again.  It this wasn’t Mo, I think everybody would be pulling the hair out of their heads and screaming for Girardi’s job.

Since Rivera is as clutch as you can possibly be, he gets a pass.  The 9^th inning is his and he owns it like no other pitcher.  It is somewhat unusual what is happening though as lefties seem to be hitting him better than before.  The pitch to Abreu on Tuesday which was drilled for a home run was a cutter and so was yesterday’s pitch to Branyan which was also drilled for a big home run.  Both Branyan and Abreu are lefties, who typically have problems hitting Mo’s cutter.  After looking over Mo’s past week, it seems that his cutter is a little flat, but he also had some location issues with it.  For instance, Abreu’s pitch was over the plate and he was able to get the bat head around quick enough to drive the ball, rather than having the cutter end up close to his hands and shatter the bat. 

I’m sure that Mo will bounce back from this, but it should be worth keeping an eye on his cutter against lefties.  Lefties are hitting .269 against Mo this season which doesn’t bode well for his cutter, but I think lefties know which pitch is coming and are cheating a bit and getting out in front of it more.  It could just be the aggressiveness of lefties, rather than a problem with the cutter.  That’s just my theory but all this could just be a ‘blip on the screen’ like Girardi says, and we may not think about this blip again for the rest of the season.  Either way, the 9^th inning is still Mo’s.

8^th Inning:  David Robertson has owned the 8^th inning this season since Soriano went on the DL.  Robertson has a 1.35 ERA and 1.2 WHIP.  His WHIP is inflated as he issues too many walks, but he makes up for it with his strikeouts – 13.7K/9IP! The strikeout ratio is just amazing and blows me away!  Robertson had one bad outing against Oakland on July 24, and since then he has only allowed 1 hit over 7 appearances and no runs.  Prior to the bad outing against Oakland, Robertson had only allowed 1 run dating back to May 11. 

7^th Inning: Soriano was slated to be the 8^th inning, set up man for Mariano when the season started but when he went on the DL his role was taken by Robertson.  Since Robertson has been so hot as the set-up man, it doesn’t look like Soriano will get that role back.  Instead, Soriano took over the 7^th inning and has been dominating since returning to the DL.  He now has pitched 6 innings since returning to the DL and yesterday was the first time he allowed a baserunner since May 13!  Besides the number, Soriano has been stellar and had a great outing on Wednesday in relief of Nova.  Nova left Soriano with a bases loaded jam with no outs and Soriano managed to escape the inning with only 4 pitches.  Although he allowed a run to score, the baserunner scored during a double play and he put the next batter down with no problems.  Soriano had some major issues with inherited runners earlier this season, but it looks like he has figured that problem out, and with him pitching the 7^th, Robertson in the 8^th and Mo for the 9^th – it’s a 6 inning game for the Yankees pitching.

Crossroads for Joba

From the weight issues to the trade rumors, Joba has been a hot topic of discussion this spring training.  He came into camp noticeably heavier but claimed it had to do with his offseason workouts.  He said he built a gym in his house and was working out more, so he gained somewhere between 20 - 25 pounds.  I find this to be somewhat unlikely, especially since he still looks like a fat guy, and refuses to discuss it further with the media.  Cashman has been conspicously tight lipped about this as well, most likely because there is a chance Joba can be worked into a trade deal.  

It seems like Joba may be at the crossroads of his career.  Reports from Tampa indicated during Monday's game, numerous scouts were keeping a close eye on Joba.  (More than usual for a spring training game)  Now that Joba has been replaced as the 8th inning set-up man for Mo, there is a good chance the Yankees bullpen may be strong enough without him.  They will have Mitre as the long man and Robertson made a great debut these last two seasons.  With Feliciano and Logan as the lefties, the bullpen looks solid.  Joba can make great trade bait, but the Yankees can't just give him up for nothing.  Bottom line is the Yankees need a strong starter for the #4 or #5 spot.... or even #3 if AJ has a season that looks like last year.

 

Joba's performance this spring has been OK.  He had a perfect inning this yesterday and this past Monday.  His fastball is in the 92-94 mph range right now, which is higher than where it's been during past spring trainings.  He changed his mechanics slightly by starting his hands at his waist, which makes it look as though he is starting from the stretch.  Working out of the stretch was a problem for him last year, but his new routine is being credited for improving his fastball.  If he has a good fastball, the rest of the pitches will improve as a result.  

He also pitched last Saturday and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits over 1 inning.  He was not as sharp as his previous appearance the previous week against the Astros when he had 2 scoreless innings which included a double play to end one inning, after allowing 2 singles.  Maybe it was from experience, or from the mechanics, or it just could be spring training numbers which mean nothing, but I personally think the double play was a good sign that indicates even when he gets into a little jam, he can pitch through it.  His numbers this spring are very limited and not indicative of his performance, but he has a 3.60 ERA, with 6 Hits, 2 Walks, and 2 strikeouts in 6 total innings.

Many rumors have been swirling about the Yankees looking to trade Joba for Liriano.  I don't think the team is planning on trading him anytime soon.  In fact, I think they really want to see how he begins the season and how the team begins the season before they make a move.  Spring training numbers are good, but ultimately they are not very indicative of results over the full season.  The Yankees also want to keep an eye on how Liriano develops this spring since he complained of shoulder tightness a week or two ago.  Reports from the Twins indicated Liriano didn't do the strength training exercises during the offseason, which most likely led to the shoulder tightness once he began throwing again.  If that is not a sign to hold off, I dont know what is. 

If the Twins were willing to deal Liriano, I would assume the Twins would want something more than Joba in this trade (likely one of the Killer B’s), so it would be a good deal for them.  Joba is getting paid nearly nothing (1.4 Mil), will be arbitration eligible again next season, and the Twins could benefit with having Joba as the set up man for Nathan.  Losing Liriano would hurt them, but they do have a good starting core:  Pavano (I know, I know), Baker, Duensing, Blackburn, & Slowey.  Adding somebody like Joba to take care of middle relief for them could really benefit them and they may actually be able to win a game against the Yankees in the playoffs.

To make this trade more enticing to the Twins, Joba needs to stay healthy.  By “Staying Healthy” I mean, losing some weight and not looking like such a sweaty drunk while on the hill.  Having David Wells in Yankees camp to help train some of the pitchers is a huge mistake since it seems like Joba is facing some of the same negative issues Wells faced…. Like being a drunk and off field distractions.  Although Wells goes down in Yankees lore as part of those legendary teams, realistically he caused many problems in the clubhouse and was not always loved the way he is now.   

Hopefully we will see more of the Joba we saw in 2007-2008, and even possibly losing a few pounds.  If other teams see improvement, we may have an opportunity to land a legitimate 4 or 5 starter.  One way or another, he must get a new photo of himself to use on the big screen  ----->