Yanks Are Rolling, the Bullpen Not So Much

NEW YORK (WCBS 880)  -- As the Yanks pass the quarter pole of the season, they’ve weathered some difficult problems in fine fashion. There is no reason to think they won’t get into the playoffs.

Do you remember earlier this month when it seemed Mark Teixeira was on the interstate? Ever since Alex came back to protect him in the lineup, Mark is hitting nearly .400 and he now has 15 homers, just one shy of the league lead.

Soon, Jorge Posada will be back to add even more firepower to a powerful lineup. Heck, even Melky is a .300 hitter this year, with production no less. (The Yanks are crossing their fingers that Melky’s injury is not serious.)

The defensively challenged team has also gone 14 games without an error.

Right now there are two real problems facing the Yanks. One is their bullpen. Now that Brian Bruney has gone back on the DL, there really isn’t a bridge to Mariano. The team is not short on candidates, of course, but neither Phil Coke, Jose Veras, Edwar Rameriz, Brett Tomko nor anyone else has stepped up on a consistent basis. As the season progresses, perhaps David Robertson or even Mark Melancon can come forward.   One thing is for sure, the one who emerges is the one who throws strikes. Veras, in particular, has been incredibly frustrating to watch. Wednesday night, for example, Veras entered the game in Texas with an 8-run lead. A double, homer and walk later he was gone.
(Yes, the walk is the most egregious element there.) 14 walks in 19.2 innings doesn’t get it done. If he weren’t out of options, Veras would be in AAA. But that is exactly where he belongs.

It is as if the MLB GAMEDAY phrase “in play, run(s)” were invented for Veras.

And no, Joba should not be the 8th inning guy….we are not going there.

The other main issue is what to do with Chien-Ming Wang. Right now he is basically in limbo, rotting in the bullpen, with Manager Joe Girardi apparently reluctant to use him in any meaningful way. He came off the DL over a week ago as bullpen insurance when he really needed to make a rehab start in Pawtucket. He pitched a two innings a week ago and two innings Wednesday, and now he sits and waits for the team to develop a plan for him.

Yes, Wang has been horrible this year, as you can see from the chart below. But here a guy who won 19 games two years in a row and was 8-2 last year before he got hurt. There has to be a way to straighten him out. The answer is not the bullpen; he needs to pitch. 
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So how bad has Wang’s 2009 season been? To put it in historical perspective, below is a list of the ten worst pitchers in baseball history in terms of ERA (9 innings or more.) I put the 9 inning qualifier since Wang has pitched 11 innings this year and given up an astounding 25 runs on 29 hits. His ERA is 20.45. It’s a small sample size, yes, but it’s a shamwow of a sample.

CAREER
9 Innings or more

T1   June Greene             18.00  
T1   Dave Wright             18.00  
3    Matt White              16.76  
4    Ace Williams            16.00  
5    Jot Goar                15.85  
6    Jim Jones               15.43  
7    Carlton Molesworth      14.63  
8    Bill Grevell            14.25  
9    Dan Cotter              14.00  
10   Chris Booker            13.94  

On Wednesday, A.J. Burnett finally put a W on the board. Burnett looked impressive when he won his first two starts. But in his next seven starts before Wednesday night in Texas, Burnett was 0-2 with a 6.04 ERA. That ERA was well earned, too, as he surrounded 46 hits and handed out 25 free passes in those 44.2 innings. That’s not what you expect out of a $82.5 million dollar pitcher and pie-man extraordinaire.

A.J.’s start against the Rangers was encouraging (6 IP, 0 R, 7 Ks), but he needs to start becoming more consistent and dependable.

Doing so won’t be easy for Burnett. I am still concerned about his durability. For the past six years, Burnett’s IP per year are as follows:

2003    23
2004    120
2005    209
2006    135.7
2007    165.7
2008    221.3

That’s an average of 145 2/3 innings per year, not even enough to qualify for an ERA title.

Perhaps even more troubling, Burnett has topped 200 innings three times, one being last year. But the previous two times he followed up his 200-inning years with seasons cut short by injury. If that trend continues, expect Burnett to hit the DL sometime in 2009.

Still, the Yanks march on. They go to Cleveland tied for first place with the Red Sox. It promises to be a fun summer.