As the Yanks started the second half of the season by taking 3 out 4 from the lowly Devil Rays, the pecking order in Joe Torre’s bullpen underwent some subtle changes.
For a two consecutive days, Ron Villone was promoted to the 7th inning hold slot. On Saturday he looked bold and confident, as he pitched a hitless inning, striking out 2 of the 3 hitters he faced. On Sunday, however, he couldn’t deliver. He got behind the hitters and eventually surrendered the go-ahead run on a long homer by the suddenly resurgent Carolos Pena.
In both cases, Villone was brought in to contend with the top of the Tampa line-up, which is predominantly left-handed with Akinori Iwamura, Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena. The use of Villone, who up to this point has been used purely for mop-up duty, speaks volumes about Torre’s lost faith in Mike Myers.
Myers primary job is to get lefties out. But he is failing miserably at it this season. Lefties are hitting him at a .327 clip. Myers owns a lofty 2.05 WHIP against lefties and their on base percentage against him is .406. With runners in scoring position against lefties, Myers is pitching to a 6.75 ERA. So all told, Myers’ 2.87 season ERA this year is very misleading; he has allowed many an inherited runner to score.
A recent bright spot for the team is the improved pitching of Luis Vizcaino, however. Earlier this season, he couldn’t get anyone out. But of late he has been very dependable. He is slowly entering Torre’s infamous “Circle of Trust.” Simply put, that means his arm may fall off before long from overuse.
In his last ten games, Vizcaino is pitching to a 2.00 ERA in 9 innings. In June, he pitched to a 0.77 ERA in 11.2 innings and so far in July he has a 2.25 ERA in 8 innings. Most importantly, he’s walking far less people and getting ahead in the count. Plan to see a lot of him in the 7th inning going forward.
Right now it’s the 8th inning that the Yanks have to worry about most. Kyle Farnsworth is simply atrocious. He can’t pitch more than one inning, and can seldom pitch more than two games in a row. And he has a blazing fastball he doesn’t trust.
Farnsworth has been particularly ineffective against lefties. In 17 innings against them this year, he is pitching to a 5.29 ERA, with 13 BBs and 10Ks. Something even more frightening is Farnsworth’s performance with runners in scoring positing. He pitches to a 9.00 ERA against lefties with RISP (5 innings), and against righties with RISP, he pitches to a 15.19 ERA (5.1 innings). In addition, Farnsworth has allowed an incredible 60 men on base in 37.1 innings.
Further proof of Kyle’s disintegration can be seen in his vanishing K/9 ratio.
In 2005 with Detroit, he struck out 11.6 per 9 innings. In 2006 with the Yanks, that went down slightly to 10.23/9. This year it has plummeted to 5.79/9.
In the same three years, Farnsworth’s hits surrendered per 9 innings has gotten worse. From 6.12 to 8.45 to 10.13
Small sample size you say? Well, he only pitches one inning at a time. It is what it is. His fastball has faded. He also retires the side in order less frequently than Dick Cheney has Ted Kennedy over for dinner. This is not the man who should be trusted with the 8th inning. Rumors persist that the Yanks are ready to trade Farnsworth, so look for him to be gone by the 31st.
Everyday Scott Proctor presses on. Always at the top of the league in appearances and innings for relievers, this year is no different. Proctor suffers the most from Torre’s habit of pitching relievers mostly one inning at a time, often every day. This eventually takes a toll on a pitcher’s arm much more than if he were to pitch 2 or 3 innings at a time and then have the next day or two off. But Torre’s burning out a bullpen arm is nothing new, as Paul Quantrill, Tanyon Sturtze, Tom Gordon and others can attest to.
Brain Bruney has essentially walked his way off the team. He is seldom used now. Unfortunately, he does not trust that blazing fastball of his. His K/BB ration is essentially 1/1. It’s a pity too; I admit that I really thought Bruney would take over that 8th inning role. But right now it should belong to Vizcaino.
One question the Yanks don’t have is who pitches the 9th. After his early season stumble, Mariano has settled in nicely. He’s been pitching to a 1.47 ERA since early April when his ERA was swimming in the unfathomable nether regions of over 10+. As long as Rivera has steady work to stay sharp, there is no reason to worry about him.
It will be interesting to see if Edwar Rameriz gets a chance. He’s pitched only twice, with 4 Ks in 2 innings, after putting up incredible minor league stats. That change-up of his offers a completely different look from the rest of the staff, which is mainly fastball and slider.
Torre has indicated that one of the relievers will be gone soon, as the team would prefer to add a bench player and go with 12 pitchers. My guess is it will be Rameriz that gets sent down, simply because he’s a rookie.
But it should be Bruney that’s sent down, or Myers released. It’s time to see what another kid can do. That may be the most fun fans can look forward to the rest of the season.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
