| Andrew Perna. 14th August, 2008 - 11:28 am
 This isn’t something I do often. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I placed the blame on a coach for a team’s struggles, but I can’t help but wonder if Manager Joe Girardi is to blame for the Yankees’ struggles this season.
Of course, the word ‘struggle’ often has a different meaning when discussing New York.
Entering Thursday’s action, the Yankees were 64-56, good enough for the tenth-best record in all of baseball. Most teams would consider that pretty acceptable but not New York. A lengthy postseason streak is on the line, and with Tampa Bay and Boston ahead in the AL East, there is more than enough blame to go around in The Big Apple.
With roughly forty games left, the Yankees have eight games to make up to overtake first-place from the Rays. If they don’t feel that’s obtainable – even though they’ll never say that – they are still five games behind the Red Sox for the AL Wild Card.
Injuries have decimated New York this season with an unbelievable number of key cogs missing significant time.
They have lost catcher Jorge Posada (shoulder) for the season; pitcher Chien-Ming Wang (foot) has been out for two months; and outfielder Hideki Matsui (knee) hasn’t played since June 24th.
Then there were the minor injuries to Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Johnny Damon that cost each a good amount of action. Oh, and don’t forget about Joba Chamberlain’s current stint on the disabled list (shoulder) and the rib issues of Phil Hughes.
All and all, you might consider the Yankees to be in pretty good shape considering what they’ve had to endure. Heck, even a Steinbrenner has offered the team some leniency.
"I think it's very simple; we've been devastated by injuries. No team I've ever seen in baseball has been decimated like this. It would kill any team," co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner told the Associated Press on Tuesday. "Imagine the Red Sox without [Josh] Beckett and [Jon] Lester. Pitching is 70 percent of the game. Wang won 19 games two straight years. Chamberlain became the most dominating pitcher in baseball. You can't lose two guys like that."
But, of course, in true Steinbrenner fashion, Hank still has hope for this year’s edition of the Yankees.
"I'm not writing off this season," he added. "They're trying hard to win. There's only so much you can do. They're not supermen."
I refuse to officially stick a fork in the Bombers after prematurely writing them off (literally) last summer, but there is certainly more to the team’s struggles than just injures.
Their lack of timely hitting has been well documented, as has their inability to play small ball, but I think the Yankees’ woes have been compounded by some poor decisions by Joe Girardi.
In the interest of time and space, I’d like to focus on how Girardi has used legendary closer Mariano Rivera.
Rivera is on pace to appear in roughly 64 games and pitch a little more than seventy innings for the Yankees this season, which isn’t an exorbitant amount of work for a pitcher that has averaged roughly seventy-four innings of work in each of his first thirteen seasons.
However, it’s not how much Girardi has used Rivera in 2008, but rather when the skipper has decided to throw Mo out on the mound.
Twice in the last week Girardi has thrown Rivera to the wolves, placing him in situations where it was hard for him to succeed – even considering his status as one of the greatest relievers in the game.
On Sunday, Girardi sent Mo to the mound with two men on and one out in the bottom of the ninth against the Angels in Anaheim with the scored knotted at three runs apiece. Damaso Marte created the mess, but Rivera was expected to clean it up.
That game, a very important one for the Yankees, was a tight battle from the start and ended as a three-game sweep at the hands of baseball’s best team. Chone Figgins singled off Riveramwhich scored Howie Kendrick to give the Angels a 4-3 victory.
I realize that Rivera’s cutter induces many a double-play, but why place the soon-to-be 39-year-old reliever in a position where he constantly has to clean up after the transgressions of his bullpen buddies?
Rivera threw one pitch, the one Figgins smacked between second and first to win the game and promptly received the blame for the loss. It’s almost as if Rivera is expected to single-handedly solve New York’s problems despite the fact that he only pitches once every two-and-a-half games for roughly an inning.
Six times Rivera has taken the mound with inherited runners this season, including four times in the last three weeks. In those recent appearances he has a pair of saves with a blown chance (his first of the season), as well. He’s pitched 3 2/3 innings, with one run going against his record but a total of four crossing home plate.
If you’re okay with Girardi’s decision to put Mariano in to clean up Marte’s mess against the Angels, then consider an incident on Tuesday night that was extremely similar.
With New York leading 6-3 against Minnesota, Marte was put in to start the eighth inning but, yet again, couldn’t find a way to get batters out. Mike Redmond doubled to left and then moved to third on a single by Randy Ruiz.
With one out and the aforementioned men on first and third, Girardi called for Rivera out of the bullpen. Three pitches later, on an 0-2 count, Delmon Young took Mo for a long ride into rightfield. Tie game.
Not only did the home run mark the first blown save of Rivera’s season, but it also cost Mike Mussina (15-7) his sixteenth win of the season.
My question is – why not either leave Marte in to finish what he started, or use a strong reliever like Edwar Ramirez or Jose Veras to play housekeeper?
Instead, Girardi used up a majority of Rivera’s workload in a situation that, in hindsight, could have been avoided. Plain and simple, he is probably the most reliable, clutch closer we have ever seen (especially considering how long he’s been among baseball’s best).
There is rarely doubt that with a three-run lead, he’ll secure a victory for the Yankees. However, it becomes a completely different story with runners on the corners and a five-game losing streak in sight.
Rivera is already the veteran presence in the bullpen, but he shouldn’t always have to pick up the toys that his younger teammates don’t put away. Perhaps Girardi is desperate for some semblance of consistency, with Rivera being the only mainstay on the team that has remained healthy this season.
With that said, the Yankees would be better off leaving Mo out of hopeless situations. That would leave him to record the traditional three-out save that earned him his legendary reputation, which seems to have justified throwing him out on the mound in all sorts of predicaments.
Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM. Please feel free to contact him via e-mail with comments or questions on this piece: Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com. |
