As the Yanks get ready to embark upon Spring Training in a few short weeks, it will be really interesting to see how Joe Girardi shakes out his bullpen. With a wealth of in-house candidates and a few newcomers available, Joe will have plenty of arms to choose from.
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The only role that is totally settled, of course, is Mariano Rivera in the closer's spot. But who will be the main set-up man?
Although this has not been announced, don't be surprised if it's Joba Chamberlain. On one hand, Joba's stuff translates well to the starter's role. He has command of four pitches, and as a set-up man he doesn't get to use them all. He has been trained as a starter, and most fans certainly feel that is where he can do the team the most good.
There are factors, however, that suggest he may stay in the set-up role. First, he will be on a strict inning count this year. The Yankee brass will continue to pamper him and they do not want him to pitch more than 150 or so innings this year. That will make for an inordinate amount of 5 inning starts, thus putting a lot of stress on the bullpen. Or, it would mean that they would have to take Joba out of the rotation at some point in the season, and that would be disruptive, particularly if he is pitching well.
Joba was also extremely successful as the set-up man last year, giving the Yanks their best one-two punch since Rivera set up for Wetteland in 1996. Should the Yanks go this route and employ Joba as the set-up man, it's imperative that Girardi use Joba in the type of high-leverage situations that will maximize his usage. Hopefully, Girardi won't manage the way Torre did and use his set-up man in blowout situations. With the wealth of talent the Yanks have in the pen now, there will be other qualified hurlers to protect 8-3 leads.
Another thing to look for this spring will be how Girardi handles Kyle Farnsworth. Joe has expressed keen interest in getting a lot out of Kyle. This I've got to see.
In his first two years with the Yanks, Farnsworth has been unable to pitch more than one inning at a time, he has not been able to pitch on consecutive days, and when he has pitched, he has often been horrible. Torre was unwilling to challenge Farnsworth to step it up. Will Girardi light a fire under this guy? Hmmmm…..
Two newcomers, LaTroy Hawkins and Jonathan Albaladejo, should also make their impact-one negative and one positive.
Hawkins essentially replaces Luis Vizcaino, who signed a three-year deal with the Rockies. The aspect of the Hawkins signing that should prove most beneficial to the Yanks is that he is only here for one year. LaTroy will likely get lit up in the A.L. East. He is past his mediocre prime. His K/9 rates are dropping like a led zeppelin. He is temperamental and has a reputation of performing poorly in high-leverage situations. Most likely, he won't be on the team by August.
Jonathan Albaladejo, however, could be a real sleeper in the pen. He pitched in September last year for the Nationals and had a good month. It's a small sample size for sure, but in 14 innings, he gave up only 7 hits and struck out 12 while walking only 2. He made the Mets look pretty bad in the last two weeks of the season and helped the Junior Varsity to blow their divisional lead. Jonathon's best pitch is his tight slider. When he is on he commands it well and he is not afraid to throw it when he is behind in the count.
Ross Ohlendorf is almost certain to make the team out of spring training. The Princeton-educated smarty pants is an organizational favorite and one of the arms that Cashman got from Arizona for Randy Johnson. Ohlendorf stumbled in the first half of the 2007 season while starting in the minors. But when he was converted to the bullpen, his 4-seamer went from 92 mph to 96-97 mph, and he began to pitch with more command and control. This autumn he pitched in the Arizona Fall league with the expressed purpose of developing a splitter. If he can master the heater and the splitter, Ohlendorf may morph into a set-up man at some point. He still has a high ceiling.
Another arm that the organization is giddy about belongs to Jose Veras. He's another big guy who throws hard, and he had moderate success with the Yanks last year when he came up for a few innings after recovering from surgery for bone chips. Veras is perhaps best known for changing his name from Enger Veras when he got caught fudging his birth certificate. He is now listed as 26 years old. But who knows, he could be 40.
Other hurlers that might get a look are Brian Bruney and Chris Britton. Both these guys need to throw strikes, lose some weight, and get over themselves. Bruney, in particular, has rubbed the organization the wrong way on numerous occasions. Brian is likely to be dealt or released before the season starts.
Edwar Rameriz, the Sweeny Murti look-alike, showed flashes of brilliance last year and put up incredible strike out numbers at the AAA and AA levels. He was dreadfully misused by Torre last year when he sat for long periods of time while other relievers were getting burned out. Surely, Girardi will be handling the young pitchers like Edwar with more intelligence.
Phenom Alan Horne, the darling of the message boards, will likely start the season at Scranton, but keep a look-out for him to emerge in the 2nd half of the season, much like Joba did in 2007. Horne has plenty of upside, and because he can command 4 pitches, his best long-term use would be as a starter. His 3-1, K/BB ratio is excellent.
Humberto Sanchez had Tommy John surgery last Spring and may be ready to contribute in the 2nd half of the season. His lively fastball and 12-6 curve will delight Yankee fans for years to come.
Manager Girardi has expressed interest in having a long man, so there is an outside chance that Darrel Rasner or Jeff Karstens could make the team. With all the talent available, however, I certainly hope that's not the case.
You may notice there is one thing all the names above have in common: they are all righties. Although it's ideal to have a situational lefty working out of the pen, the Yanks don't have anyone nearly talented enough to take up the roster spot.
Sean Henn has allowed 120 base runners in 57.3 major league innings. Chase Wright doesn't have the stuff, and Kei Igawa is not worth more than a sentence here.
Despite the lack of lefties, Cashman and company have built a formidable bullpen. You've read a lot of columns this winter about the Yankee bullpen being one of their biggest weaknesses. On the contrary, the bullpen will be a strength.
It may take a little while for Girardi to mix and match for maximum efficiency. But he and pitching coach Dave Eiland will figure it out; the talent is there.
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