When the Yankees began there quest for championship 28, many believed that they had a close to flawless team. Why would anyone feel other wise? They had just come off a championship season, the rotation was stacked with aces with the addition of Javier Vazquez, they still had pop in the line up and added an all star center fielder in Curtis Granderson, and the bullpen had Joba and Mo. Well the rotation has held up, the hitting has been held together by the fabulous season of Robinson Cano and the bullpen still has Mo and Joba but a lot of question marks other then that.
Mariano Rivera might be having another outstanding season at the age of 40, but outside of that there has not been much to smile about when you look to the bullpen below the bleacher creatures in right field. Coming into this season, for the first time since 2006 when Kyle Farnsworth was with the team the team what they though was a legit set up man to Rivera. To bad someone forgot tell Joba Chamberlain he was not suppose to pitch like Farnsworth. Although Joba does deserve his share of blame for why the bullpen has been so shakey, he is not the only reason. David Robertson has not had the same season that he did last year, Alfredo Aceves and Sergio Mitre have both spent alot of time on the DL and Chan Ho Park is better at giving fans diarrhea then he is at getting batters out.
The Good: So lets start by saying the Rivera is not included in this mess of a bullpen. Mo has been remarkable this season at the age of 40 and has show no signs of slowing down. Just last week Rivera went two innings twice to pick up victory's for the Yankees. The other bright spot has to be that Damaso Marte has played his role as the Lefty perfectly. Lefty batters against Marte this season have been batting just .162 and rightys just .211. The only issue has been his lack of control and Girardi has only used him in situational spots often only pitching to a batter or two. Marte is not the only Lefty out in the pen, Boone Logan who was acquired in the Melky Cabrera - Javier Vazquez, has had an up and down season..literally. Logan has spent time with the big club and also down in AAA, in fact he was just sent down again to make room for Dustin Moseley. Logan has had a decent season with a 3.93 ERA mostly in mop up duty. The knock on Logan is that lefties hit .280 against him and has 12 walks in 18.1 innings. Boone has shown promise at time and i believe the Yanks shouldnt give up so quick on a 25 year old Lefty who can throw 95 MPH at times.
The Bad: This season has not been as kind to David Robertson and Alfredo Aceves as 2009 was. Both this season were expected to be large role players in getting the ball to Mo, Robertson has done an awful job at that so far and Aceves has spent much of the season on the DL. Robertson last season started of slow like this season but then picked it up mid way through the season and made what was already an above average bullpen great. This season he once again started out slow but has not improved like he did last season. The strike outs are still there this season but the control is not, with 15 walks in 26.1 innings. Robertson also has give up 34 hits and has the highest WHIP on the team at 1.861 . What scares me is that last season Robertson had become so reliable down the stretch before being sidelined for a bit with elbow stiffness. With the way he has pitched this season you must hope that the elbow is not bothering him in any way and that with just a few good outing Robertson can gain the confidence he had last season. Before Fridays game in which Robertson gave up four earned runs, he had only allowed one run in 9.1 innings.
Alfredo Aceves was last seasons unsung hero. Picking up the slack last season when the rest of the arms in the pen needed rest or a starter threw to many pitches. Ace was able to get himself 10 victories, only losing one game while totaling 84 important innings. Aceves showed his versatility with being able to pitch more then a single inning and was able to get batters out from both sides of the plate while throwing strikes. This season the Mexican born pitcher seemed to have picked up right where he had left off when a back injury sprung up. At first it looked like a bulging disk in his back and was not expected back for the rest of the season. But it would later be down graded to a back strain and is expected to return into action some time following the all star break.
Sergio Mitre aka "The Meat Tray" had been having himself a solid season and once Aceves went down was expected to fill that role. But Mitre also went down with a strained oblique muscle. This may seem like a tough choice to say he has been under the bad, but it has not been for his performance which has been good on the field. It is for getting injured at a time when the Yankees needed him (I am not saying he wants to be injured, just bad luck). Mitre is expected back sometime following the all star break and has started rehabbing in single A.
The Ugly : Any time a pitcher is expected to be the set up man, there is alot of responsibility and expectations. Especially when you are setting up the greatest closer and last years young set up man did a fantastic job. Joba Chamberlain this year has been inconsistent at best. At the start of the season Joba looked like he belonged in the role, but as the season has gone on he has been hot and cold. It seems like Joba's biggest issue is location, there have been to many games in which Chamberlain has fired a fastball right down the pipe and give up a hit. Sure Joba hasn't allowed too many walks and has only given up one home run, but he has blown two saves and lost three games. Maybe its the fact that Joba burst onto the scene in 2007 and had immediate success in the bullpen, and was talked about as Rivera's successor. Maybe it is because the Yankees have messed with him and have juggled him between the rotation and bullpen and restricted him with silly innings limitations. It could also be that there have been whispers by scouts that he does not have the best work ethic. Joba also this season has had his biggest struggles at home pitching to a 8.59 ERA. All of these issues are the reason that come the trade deadline I would like Brian Cashman to pursue someone that could possibly take Chamberlain's place so the eighth inning isn't so rocky.
By now many Yankee fans have seen the famous Chan Ho Park diarrhea clip (If you haven't just type that into youtube). Many fans can relate since when Park comes into the game, they too have a bowel movement. In late February when Park was signed to add insurance the Yankees bullpen, I liked the move and felt it was the rich getting richer. Now that Park has pitched to an evil 6.66 ERA, the move now looks as if Park robbed the rich of there money. Park did not start out on the right foot with Yankee fans when on opening night he gave up a go ahead home run in Boston. Park would then go on the DL and miss a little over a month of action. Once Park came back he struggled and has continued to do so since. Recently Park has made some improvements, but has been getting killed when he pitches over one inning. On a side note if you have ever gone early to the ballpark and watched batting practice you would know that Park is nice guy who is constantly kidding around with the fans.
With the trade deadline approaching later this month, I would hope the Cashman could work some magic and add another arm to the pen. If that does not happen the only thing Yankee fans can hope is that the pitchers start to straighten out thier problems on there own.
