Yankee Talk: Looking to write a good “Pen” story

Yanks bullpen this season's x-factor for 2009

Let’s take the idea that great starting wins games and keep to that.

Yet, why don’t we add this caveat: A great starting rotation is only complimented by how well its relief corps is. If those guy down in the bullpen show severe leakage, then not only is a great start ruined, but your team loses the game and it has a damaging effect on your team over the course of a season.

Do I have to pitch eight innings or throw a complete game? My bullpen isn’t holding the leads I'm giving them now!

Having a great staff is two-fold. You obviously need to have the good consistent start from your pitcher, which the Yankees have solidified, but the bullpen needs to hold the lead that eventually will lead to victory at the end of the night.

As an example, last season, the New York Mets relief corps blew 29 saves for a team that finished one game behind the eventual World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies. Alter the course of just a few of those games and the Phillies are not in the playoffs, the Mets are, and perhaps they wind up going all the way and winning it all.

Ok, perhaps that would not have happened, but perhaps a Mets fan can dream that.

It was made impossible because the team had a bullpen roster that was so bad there was no one available to acquire in the season that was any better than the bad pitcher they already had on the roster. Mix in the volatility of pitching in New York and finding the "right guy" is very difficult.

The Yankees' relief corps had a 3.78 ERA in 2008 - seventh best in the majors and fifth best in the American League - despite being forced into heavy duty by a shaky starting rotation. Their bullpen pitched 543 1/3 innings, the second-highest total in the American League and sixth-highest in the majors. That's why when you look at the Yankees going into this season, it is the bullpen that will likely have the biggest bulls-eye on their chest from us fans as the team looks to return to the postseason.

The group, outside of the indomitable Mariano Rivera, is made up of young pitchers that have been homegrown that possess impressive physical gifts and performed very well last year. However, as the month of the calendar sprung to August, the pen began to leak serious oil and some of the setup men either by youth or by over usage, became ineffective.

This is why plenty of chatter continues to exist why Joba Chamberlain should be used as a late inning reliever instead of a fifth starter. Having some like him who was so great in that role in each half of the last two seasons, to team up with Rivera tells the opposition the following:

"Score before the 7th inning or else its over!"

It is a very intimidating thing to face when you consider the good rotation the Yankees already have. But for now, Chamberlain resides in the rotation and it is left to the men in the pen to get the job done.

There is no main leader of this crew. With performance, one of the pitchers will emerge as the eighth inning setup man. It will be Jose Veras, Brian Bruney or Edwar Ramirez. In total, Manager Joe Girardi is going to carry 12 pitchers. Once you subtract the five starters and Rivera, which leaves you with six spots to fill.

Each man pitched very well last year despite battling occasional bouts of inconsistency. There ability to miss bats and strike hitters out makes them worthy contributors to the late innings. As it stands, Bruney is the leading candidate to take the ball with the task of getting the game to Rivera.

Bruney had last 20 pounds before last season and pitched well before injuring his foot fielding a groundball in a game at Chicago and miss nearly four months. Upon returning, he picked up right where he left off. In total, he appeared in 32 games, pitched 34 1/3 innings and amassed an impressive 1.83 ERA and 33 strikeouts (0.99 WHIP). He has come into camp 15 pounds lighter again and it the best shape of his career. At the age of 26, perhaps his maturity has caught up to his talent. The problem has always his lapses where the pitches do not find the strike zone. His problem walking batters was a problem in 2007, but improved in 2008.

Jose Veras was another pitcher who pitched very well during most the season last year. In 2008, he pitched the seventh inning in front of Kyle Farnsworth before he was traded to the Detroit Tigers from Ivan Rodriguez. For the season, he performed well in 57 2/3 innings, striking out 63 batters and ending up with a 3.59 ERA (1.40 WHIP). He possess an upper 90’s fastball and beautiful 12 to 6 breaking ball. Yet, like Bruney, could not always keep it in the strike zone. With nearly 4.5 walks per nine innings, his control does get out of place whenever he is not in the proper mechanics. Hopefully with a season under his belt, he’ll be able to improve.

Edwar Ramirez is an interesting reliever in that he is as Michael Kay likes to say, “He is like the little girl with the curl.”

Last year he finished with a 3.90 ERA in 55 1/3 innings, striking out 63 batters (1.19 WHIP). There are times when he very good and his changeup fool hitters immensely. However, like the other Yankee relievers, when he is not throwing strikes, Ramirez, more than any other relievers is susceptible to being hit harder than anyone else. He rarely tops 92 MPH on the radar, thus he relies on getting ahead in the count and then utilizing his changeup to rack up two strike counts and eventual strikeouts. Nothing illustrated this more than in a game against the Los Angeles Angels last August. With two outs, Ramirez inexplicably lost control of his pitches and proceeded to load the bases and (now Yankee) Mark Texieira came to the plate. He got behind 2-0 and was forced to come over the plate with his heat lacking fastball over the middle of the plate.

Result? Grand slam.

Perhaps it is best if he used in small doses. His deceptive changeup is among the best in baseball. However, everything works off his ability to get strike one. If he can do that, his ability to make hitters look foolish with the change up goes up (hence the 10.25 K/9 rate. Hitters hit over .360 when the count was 1-0, amongst the highest in the league.

Those three men will take the bulk of the load this season. In the minor leagues rest some pitchers who will look to come in a make an impact much like Chamberlain did in 2007 and Veras did last year. David Robertson is a vying candidate after coming to the show last year


In September, Coke came up from the minors to show the Yankees what he can do and left a very lasting impression. The hard throwing 25 year old left hander threw 14 2/3 innings, struck out 14 batters and finished with a 0.61 ERA (0.68 WHIP). His hard fastball was tough on left handed hitters and combined with veteran Damaso Marte, provide the Yankees with good balance from both sides and depth to where relievers will not be overworked.

From Bruney, Ramirez and Veras, we subtract the number six by three. Add youngster Phil Coke and Damaso Marte into the mix and that leaves one spot. That is typically set for a long reliever to fill innings and that battle is being waged by veteran Brett Tomko and Dan Giese, who pitched for the Yankees last year in spot starts and relief appearances. To his credit, he didn’t stink out the joint.

When you add in the upgrades in the starting rotation along with the return of Chien Ming Wang, you have three starters (Sabathia, Burnett and Wang) with the ability to go seven or even eight innings a night. This is so very vital of the course of a long season because when they take the ball that deep into a game consistently, that allows for the men in the pen to be used less and therefore be more effective.

It makes you a better team.

Last year, the lack of quality starting pitching overexposed the relief core. This has been a problem over the last five seasons. When a pitcher can only go six innings (which has been right around the average – if not less – for Yankee starters), that means you have to get a minimum of nine outs from your bullpen to win games. Do that consistently over a course of time and no matter how many relief pitchers you have, you will tire your pen out.

All one has to do is look at the extreme over-usage of pitchers like Paul Quantrill, Tom Gordon, Tanyon Sturtze, Ron Villone, Scott Proctor and Luis Vizcaino as prime examples of pitchers who fell into this category. It takes more than one or two guys to make a successful bullpen. But it also takes a good starting staff to make those pitchers more effective.

This year, the Yankees project to have the ability to do both.

Start well…and finish well.