A couple years ago I attended a Yankees/O’s game much like last night’s game. Back and forth, crappy starting pitching, comebacks, blown leads, rain delays. The difference between last night’s 9-8 O’s win and that game (5/26/04) is that the O’s managed to pull this one out. It felt really good and you got the feeling that even though the Orioles will probably still have a top ten draft pick next year in the June draft, these players are playing as well as they can and leaving it all out of the field. As a fan, you can’t ask for much else.
According to Dave Trembley, the players spent the rain delay in the batting cage taking swings and getting ready to go back out there and get the win. To all of those who stuck around the yard or stayed up late enough to watch the end of the game, it was worth it.
Jim Palmer and Gary Thorne have made it no secret that the Yankees have some bullpen issues. Do they really? Clearly, anytime you lose a guy in your bullpen of the caliber of Joba Chamberlain it is going to leave a hole. Especially when you replace him with LaTroy Hawkins. Let’s take a look at the Yankees bullpen options, minus Mariano Rivera who is friggin’ superman:
To me, it looks like the two best guys are Ramirez and Albaladejo. The rest? Very stinky. Albaladejo has given up more hits than innings pitched so even he has been shaky. The point is that you need to get solid starting pitching, which is why Chamberlain is being moved. You worry about the late innings once you’ve got a lead to protect. If it’s 8-8 in the 7th, something has already gone horribly wrong. So in short, I agree with Palmer and Thorne; the Yankees bullpen is a mess. It is fixable and I am sure they will turn it around. Hopefully not by tonight though as the O’s go for the sweep.
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Jay Bruce made his MLB debut last night for the Reds. Here’s the video. Amazing
2 Comments
May 29, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Overall, the Yankees bullpen is bad, but it isn’t so scary that they are in trouble.
- Farnesworth has actually been quite good. Other than 2 appearances in which he gave up 5 ER total, he has only given up 1 ER in his last 17 appearances. That ERA is deceptive.
- Albaladejo was good, he got hurt, and went to the DL. When he’s back, he’s another good reliever.
- Chris Britton was just called up and has done well in AAA and in brief stints in the majors the last two seasons.
- One thing nobody seems to mention about the Yankees is the depth of their pitching prospects. Between JB Cox, Mark Melancon, Jose Valdez, Daniel McCutchen, David Robertson and a few others, there are people to fill out this stadd.
- Ohlendorff is very talented and should probably be effective (with the stuff he has) but needs time down in the minors
May 29, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I agree and still think the Yankees will be able to overcome any bullpen stinky-ness in time. I think getting Hughes back healthy will help them. I just hope they are not putting Joba in the rotation because they are panicking. It is way too early to be doing that.
Does 2008 Rivera look like 1998 Rivera or is it just me?