NEW YORK (WCBS) -- According to GM Brian Cashman, the Yanks are very likely to go with 12 pitchers (seven relievers) right from the start of the season this year. Although this practice has become more in vogue in recent years, it certainly makes for a lean bench.
Going with 12 pitchers leaves room for only 4 bench players: A reserve infielder (Miguel Cairo), a reserve outfielder (Melky Cabrera), a reserve first baseman (either Andy Phillips or Josh Phelps, with Doug Mientkiewicz getting the bulk of the playing time by virtue of being a left-handed hitter), and a reserve catcher (probably Will Nieves.)
It is often assumed that the Yanks need to go with 12 pitchers because their starters do not go long into games. But the Yanks’ starters who are coming back this year (Chien-Ming Wang and Mike Mussina) finished in the top half of innings pitched per start. Wang, in fact, was fifth in the league in innings pitched with 218, and a close second in the league with pitches per batter at 3.39. That ratio was augmented by Wang’s propensity to induce ground ball double plays; he was 2nd in the league with 33 DPs served up. In 2006, Mussina pitched his most innings (197 1/3) and recorded his best K/9 rate sine 2003 (7.84).
Andy Pettitte, meanwhile, was busy with Houston. He threw 214 innings last year and 222 the year before. That’s pretty durable by today’s standards. Granted, the backend of the rotation, most likely manned by Kei Igawa and Carl Pavano, are questions marks—Igawa because we don’t know how his stuff will translate to Major League hitting, and Pavano because he has done nothing to inspire any confidence in his durability or credibility.
That being said, the main reason the Yanks feel the need to go with 12 pitchers is not because the starters can’t go longer; it’s because Joe Torre can not handle a bullpen. And Cashman knows this. He’s seen Torre—firsthand—blow out the arms of relief pitchers. Tanyon Sturtze and Paul Quantrill are just some recent examples.
(Hopefully, Scott Proctor will not join the ranks of those abused by Torre. However, Proctor may be well on his way, having pitched 102.1 relief innings last year. The next closest in the league was Scott Shields of the Angels with 87.2)
Having 12 pitchers provides and extra arm for Torre to go to, but history tells us that the last pitcher in the pen is usually someone he doesn’t trust, and will seldom use anyway.
This brings us to Mike Myers, the so-called LOOGY of the Yankee bullpen.
First off, let assume that Mike Myers is a great guy who helps little old ladies across Manhattan’s streets. (The point is this ain’t personal.) The cold fact is the side-winding lefty really has no business being on the team. He doesn’t pitch enough (30.2 innings last year). Ironically, when he did pitch last year, he was more successful against righties (.224 BA against) than he was against lefties (.257 BA against). That is not what you want out of your left-handed specialist.
Meanwhile, three right-handers in the Yankee pen have proven to be quite successful against left-handed hitters. Scott Proctor, Kyle Farnsworth and the newly acquired Luis Vizcaino put up stellar numbers. Vizcaino held lefties to a .163 average last season. Proctor held them to .204 and Farnsworth .215, all in significantly more at bats than Myers. Even Cashman agrees, saying: “They neutralize left-handers significantly.”
The point is that it’s more important to send good pitching out there than it is to send mediocre pitching to the mound just because the book says you should play “match-up.” Since the Yanks have the horses to get lefties out, Myers is really expendable.
That roster spot would be better served going to a 5th outfielder, someone like Kevin Thompson. Thompson is ideal because he can pinch run and play defense (two things that Bernie Williams can not do). Thompson also is a right-handed hitter, and with the Yanks starting three left-handed hitters in the outfield, it’s hard to imagine that times may not arise where his services would be required.
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