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Blown chances, Wang’s blow up lead to another loss to Sawx
BOSTON – Try as they may, the results are ending up the same.
Perhaps this is all scripted like a movie or Vince McMahon is choreographing this as he does his wrestling matches, whatever it is, the Red Sox are continuing to come out victorious.
For the Yankees, the donut is still on the board and the script continues to have the same ending. They are now 0-7 against Boston, dropping a 6-5 decision at Fenway Park that can only have them wondering what exactly they have to do to finally get a win on the board.
Or, has it come to a point where the Red Sox are officially in the Yankees heads despite their own bull-headed denials?
Beating a team seven times in a row without dropping a defeat will do that to you, but it also makes it difficult when your starting pitcher again puts you at a significant disadvantage early in a game and is unable to escape the third inning.
The Yankees did not know what they were going to get from Chien-Ming Wang going into Wednesday night’s start.
They probably did not expect him to last as long as A.J Burnett did.
Looking to make strides coming off his performance against the Texas Rangers at home and pitching in a place that has been his personal place of horrors, Wang’s struggles continued in Boston, lasting the same 2 2/3 innings that Burnett threw on Tuesday.
While Wang had increased velocity on his pitches, throwing as hard as 95 MPH, he rarely had control of where the ball was going. This led to an elongated 69-pitch effort that saw him give up four runs, six hits and three walks before Joe Girardi had seen enough and took the ball.
Wang may be a two-time 19 game winner and former staff ace, but it is clear that being given “on the job” rehabilitation at the Major League level is not something that should have ever been attempted.
His problems began right at the start when with one out; he walked J.D Drew and Kevin Youkilis. Needing to get a double play, he induced a groundball off the bat of Jason Bay that unfortunately found a hole through the left side of the infield that scored Drew to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.
A walk to David Ortiz later in the inning followed to load the bases, but on his 29th pitch, Wang was able to get Mark Kotsay to groundout to second to end the frame.
In the second inning, Jorge Posada led off the inning with his ninth homerun of the season to tie the score 1-1. Boston would get the run back in the bottom half when Nick Green reached on an infield single and then score when catcher George Kottaras doubled to the right centerfield gap to make it 2-1. It would become 3-1 Boston when Dustin Pedroia's fly ball to right field near Pesky’s Pole mysteriously eluded the glove of right fielder Nick Swisher and bounced into the seats for a ground rule double. Mike Lowell would then homer on the first pitch of the third inning.
Phil Hughes would replace Wang with two outs in the inning and struck out Kottaras to end a potential threat after balking Green to second.
Melky Cabrera got the Yankees within 4-2 in the fourth inning when he singled home Hideki Matsui for their second run. However, this was quickly answered in the bottom half when Kevin Youkilis homered to the Red Sox bullpen in right center off Hughes to give Boston a 6-2 lead.
Hughes remained in the game through the bottom of the seventh, going 3 2/3 innings, yielding two runs (Youkilis’ homer) and two hits, while striking out five. His performance, as long as Wang continues to pitch poorly, will continue to leave the question open as to whether Hughes should be back in the starting rotation.
Robinson Cano made the score 6-3 in the fifth on a run scoring groundout. In the seventh, with starter Tim Wakefield gone and Ramon Ramirez in, the Yankees would rally to cut the deficit to one as Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira hit back-to-back home runs to make it 6-5.
Teixeira was on fire, going 4-5 on the night with that home run, two doubles and a single.
Wakefield pitched six innings, only giving up three runs and eight hits, striking out two.
After Posada singled with two outs in the seventh, Ramirez was lifted for Hideki Okajima, who finished off the inning by striking out his fellow countryman Hideki Matsui.
He would remain in the game in the eighth inning and walked Nick Swisher to lead off. Swisher was replaced by Brett Gardner. After Cabrera sacrificed him over to second, Okajima proceed to strike out both Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon to end the threat. 
Jonathan Papelbon came on to close the game in the ninth. He was able to get Teixeira to ground out to Dustin Pedroia for the first out. Alex Rodriguez worked a walk and Ramiro Pena came into the game to pinch run. Pena stole second with Robinson Cano at the plate needing just a single to tie the game.
Cano would work the count to 2-2 before striking out on a high fastball out of the zone for the second out. Posada got the count to 3-2 before lifting a fly ball to left fielder Jason Bay, who made the catch in front of the Green Monster to seal another Red Sox victory.
Boston (35-24) is now in first place by a game over the Yankees (34-25) despite their 7-0 season series lead. They will attempt to go for the sweep tomorrow night when CC Sabathia starts for the Yanks, and Brad Penny gets the ball for the Red Sox.
By all accounts, if the Yankees cannot win tomorrow night, it is anyone's guess when they will beat their rivals.
Burnett’s yo-yo act in NY microcosm of career
BOSTON – Ok, so what exactly are the Yankees paying A.J Burnett for again?
Are they paying him to be the team’s official master of pie ceremonies or are they paying this man to win big ballgames?
If it were the former, than he would be a prime candidate for the CY Young and maybe possible MVP consideration.
If it is the latter, then we have a problem.
At last check, the five year, $82.5 million dollar contract that the team gave (more like overpaid) to him when he was a free agent was given with the belief that he would a solid rock in the rotation and a pitcher that has been a “Red Sox killer” of sorts over the last three years.
When you come to the Yankees, you throw the numbers out. Pitching in this environment and then pitching in The Rivalry is much different from whatever took place in Toronto the last three years.
Given the ball last night in Fenway Park to begin what to be the genesis of the team regaining their footing in this one sided season rivalry with Boston, Burnett was making one of those “big starts” the Yankees were paying him the big money for.
Instead, for the second time this season, Burnett laid another egg against the Red Sox in the team’s 7-0 loss that now continues the “donut” put up this season in the first six game of The Rivalry, continued his inconsistent pattern of starts this season that has marked his entire career.
For anyone to be truly stunned by what they are seeing from Burnett would be to ignoring the 32-year-old pitcher’s body of work through his stay in the big leagues.
He has always has incredible talent in that right arm of his, but has never been able to put it together. At his age, the percentages are very likely that he will never reach his full potential.
He had problems from the outset with his control. While he fell behind in counts, he escaped the first inning without giving up a run.
In the second inning, the same control problems resurfaced. His fastball was all over the plate. Deep counts continued and with the bullpen in peril going into the tonight, this was the last thing the Yankees wanted to see.
He had David Ortiz up in the count 0-2 before throwing two out of the zone. On the 2-2 pitch, he laid a fat cookie down the middle and it allowed even Ortiz, who had only two homeruns on the season, to crush the ball deep to the centerfield bleachers to make it 2-0.
Burnett, if not unraveling before, was now in full-blown meltdown mode.
This too is not a surprise. Such has been his reputation through his career. When things get rough, Burnett folds up. It happened in his last Fenway Park start when he was given a 6-0 lead before gagging it up and now it was happening again.
You were hoping that he would grind his way through the problems and compromise by using his other weapons in hopes that he could perhaps reclaim his fastball later on.
This did not happen.
He kept throwing fastballs, kept on missing and Red Sox hitters were more than willing to take their base. Five times Burnett walked a hitter. The final dagger of the night struck when little shortstop Nick Green doubled to left to make it 5-0.
84 pitches, 40 for strikes and all of it were unwatchable. 2 2/3 innings was all Girardi could take before making that slow walk to the mound to take the ball and send Burnett to the shower.
The Yankees were mesmerized by his performance against them last year along with the Red Sox that they incorrectly assumed that they were purchasing “that pitcher”. For $82.5 million, that would have been a good investment, but unfortunately, they are not getting “that pitcher”.
Instead, they have a pitcher saddled with an ERA just short of five (4.89 to be exact) and a question mark every time he takes mound. 
The question now becomes whether “Good A.J” or “Bad A.J” is going to show up.
This is not what the Yankees signed up for.
Burnett in essence is a victim of his own success against the Yankees and the team paid him based on that, apparently unaware of his performance against everyone else.
Breaking news alert: The rest of the league hit this pitcher last year. If you took away his starts against the Yankees and Red Sox, his ERA was exactly what it is now.
Perhaps no one should be surprised. For the next five years, they should get used to this.
Welcome to maddening, hair-pulling world that is and will be “The A.J Burnett Experience”.
It should be its own entertainment show.
Problem is, the Yankees are hoping for a happy ending, but they too would only be guessing.
For all that money, that’s a problem.
Yanks dominated again, fall to 0-6 against Sawx
BOSTON – One of these days, the Yankees are going to find a way to beat the Red Sox.
The date is to be determined.
It may have to be in Little League or in a Playstation or Xbox game for this to happen.
On the Major League level, it is the Red Sox wielding the hammer and no matter what the Yankees do, they are still finding themselves playing the role of nail, and a cut below their friends from Boston despite what the standings say.
They came into the series saying that wanted to send a message to their blood rivals. If last night was any indication, the only message that they sent was they are still chasing Boston.
For the sixth time this season, the Yankees fell to Red Sox. They entered Fenway Park just the way they left it back in April. This time falling decisively 7-0 to the Red Sox in another uninspiring, humiliating performance in this suddenly one sided version of The Rivalry.
It was a game that showed that despite all the strides made in the last month and the games made up on Boston, there is still a sizable gap between the two teams.
For AJ Burnett, the man brought in by the Yankees and paid a handsome $82.5 million to do so, once again proved to be a Fenway Flop.
Matched up with Red Sox ace Josh Beckett again, Burnett outdid his awful performance he had back on April 25 when he coughed up a 6-0 lead by following it up with last night’s 2 2/3 inning egg, allowing five runs, five hits and five walks in 84 painful to watch pitches.
For the man that loves to serenade his teammates with pies, it was Burnett himself who appeared to have whip cream in his eyes and had problems seeing where the strike zone was.
Trouble for Burnett began right at the start when he fell behind both the leadoff hitter Dustin Pedroia and J.D Drew with 3-0 and 2-0 counts. Though he recorded outs and pitched a scoreless first inning, it was obvious that he was having command problems, particularly with his fastball.
The second inning saw even more command problems. After walking Mike Lowell to lead off the inning, Burnett grooved a 2-2 fastball over the plate that David Ortiz crushed to centerfield for a two-run homer.
Later in the inning after a four pitch walk to Mark Kotsay (playing in place of Jacoby Ellsbury), Alex Rodriguez could not control a chopper hit by shortstop Nick Green who reached base. On an 0-2 pitch, J.D Drew cranked a double of the Green Monster in left field to drive in both runs to make it 4-0 as Burnett’s pitch count continued to rise.
It would mercifully end in the third as he hopelessly continued to aim his fastball that betrayed him on this night. He walked Lowell to lead off the inning, and after Kotsay singled to right, manager Joe Girardi (like the rest of us) had seen enough. Of his 84 pitches, only 40 were strikes.
The numbers for the Yankees “other” prized right-hander in The Rivalry are downright ugly. In two starts covering 7 2/3 innings, he’s allowed 13 runs, 13 hits and 8 walks, equating to an ERA of 11.43.
Meanwhile, Beckett did not have any such problems and cruised through the night. He was utterly dominant and in complete control, throwing six innings of one hit ball.
The Yankees did not get their first hit until the fourth inning when Robinson Cano reached on an infield single. Only one base runner (Mark Teixeira) reached second base in Beckett’s outing.
93 pitches was all it took for the Boston ace who is now 5-0 in his last seven starts with a 1.70 ERA in 47 2/3 innings. He had pinpoint control of all of his pitches, utilizing both his two and four seam fastballs along with his off speed pitches to stifle Yankee bats all night long.
Red Sox Manager Terry Francona felt very confident in the game that he chose not to bring him out for the seventh inning. Instead, he gave the final nine outs to statistically, the best bullpen in baseball.
The combination of Manny Delcarmen, Ramon Ramirez and Daniel Bard got the final nine outs; each pitcher throwing harder than the other. Bard came into the game in the ninth inning, blew Yankee hitters away with a fastball touching 98, and in the final at bat against Robinson Cano, reached 100 MPH.
Brett Tomko entered the game after Burnett departed in the third and held the game at 5-0. In the fourth, Lowell made it 6-0, driving home Kevin Youkilis who had singled to lead off the inning and then stole second base while Jason Bay was at the plate (Bay would later walk).
In a game where Mariano Rivera was not available due to pitching the last three days, he did not have to worry about moving from his seat in the bullpen. Tomko pitched 2 1/3 innings, followed up Jose Veras (two innings,) who allowed a solo home run to Nick Green in the seventh and David Robertson (one inning)
On the night, the Yankees managed only two hits. Despite sitting Hideki Matsui, the team fielded its full lineup for the first time against Boston and was unable to generate any type of offense.
Credit Beckett and the Red Sox for that.
Chien-Ming Wang takes the ball for the Yankees tomorrow night, while knuckleballer Tim Wakefield gets the start for the Red Sox.
After being punched by Sawx this season, Yanks looking to swing back
NEW YORK – The Yankees have played the Red Sox this season.
Five times, they have lost.
Five different ways, the Red Sox showed to the Yankees that they were the better team.
After awhile, it begins to gets into your head and you wonder if the team from The Bronx can beat the team from The Hub.
So here we are, “The Rivalry” back on again at Fenway Park starting Tuesday night, meeting for the last time before they take two months away from each to further shape their season.
This much is clear right now:
The Yankees and Red Sox are the two best teams in the American League.
If you want to take Texas and Detroit and count them in as legitimate contenders, do so at your own risk. Tampa Bay has played better than their record, but with a conga line of players on the disabled list and a bullpen that does not resemble their 2008 version.
After that, everyone else is no better than average at best.
This leaves the Yankees with only one true opponent for the season. While anything may happen in a short series with one of those other teams, the long range view is that this season is shaping to have a “real” October for the first time since 2004.
New York and Boston appear to be on a clear path to facing each other for a chance to go to the World Series.
However, there is still this lingering doubt as to whether the Yankees are better than the Red Sox. The first five games and subsequent losses have a left not only a stigma, but a bad taste. Losing four of five games would have not been tolerable, but going laying a “donut?”
Unacceptable.
Granted, Alex Rodriguez was not in the lineup, CC Sabathia did not pitch and both Josh Beckett and Jon Lester started four of the five games, but two, if not three of the games were there for the Yankees to win had they gotten either a big hit, big pitch or final out.
Since May 5, the Yankees have been a different team. Their starting rotation has slowly taken shape and it is clear that their lineup is the best in the league when fully healthy (which it is now). Cody Ransom, and Jose Molina are not in the lineup to take up space and add (lack of) mass. Replacing the two with Rodriguez and Posada and adding a now healthy and hot Mark Teixeira changes the entire equation.
It is in these three games the message has to be sent to Boston that the Yankees are going to be in their ass all season. The Red Sox may respect their long time rivals, but they know they can beat them at any time, in any place, anywhere.
For the last month, New York has been playing what would amount to “tune up” games in order to prepare themselves for this. They were struggling back then, had no direction as to where the season was going, and the “Girardi Watch” looked as if it was ready to make its return.
Of course, there was that part about me referring to the team as “bums” as well, but we will not get into that.
They have righted themselves and have shown themselves to be a tough, resilient group that has come from behind to win 20 times this season. All the pieces appear to be in place for a championship run except for the situation that exists in the bullpen where every night it appears Joe Girardi is playing a dangerous game of “Bullpen Roulette” whenever the pitcher’s name is calling for is not named “Aceves” or “Rivera”.
The bullpen is the only thing that separates these two teams and it appears that will be what decides these games between the Yankees and the Red Sox.
Starting tomorrow night, the pitchers have to make the Boston hitters uncomfortable. No more of watching the like of Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay digging in at the plate and taking their hacks.
So far, the Yanks haven’t found a way to get these guys out, with Bay becoming the new Manny Ramirez. While David Ortiz battles what is either a slump or him just being finished, the confidence that he used to come to the plate with has been passed on the other players.
At some point, this has to end. If that means backing them up and putting them on the ground, so be it.
If the Red Sox hitters and their teammates get upset? So be it.
If crowd gets rowdy and desperately begins to break out “Yankees Suck,” feel free.
The tenor of this rivalry has to change. Boston has in essence, “punked us,” and the response by the Yankees has been that of Boy Scouts, unwilling to fight back and get dirty if needed.
Here is where the genesis of this season starts.
This is where we see AJ Burnett atone for his bad game in Fenway in April when he was given a 6-0 lead and gagged it up.
This is where we see if CC Sabathia can let the Red Sox know that he is an official part of “The Rivalry”.
This is where we see this maligned bullpen finally step up to the challenge of getting big outs against the Red Sox big hitters late in these games.
Phil Coke, Alfredo Aceves, David Robertson and Phil Hughes, that message is for you.
This is where we also see the full composition of this lineup, finally intact, grind, wear down the Boston pitching, and force their starters out of the game and into the bullpen early.
Make no mistake; it is a big series for the Yankees.
This is their exam for the first half of the season. Pass it, and they can move on.
Fail it, and the Bombers will be looked at as paper tigers, able to beat up on those beneath them, but unable to handle the biggest boys on the block.
Let’s see which one they are.
Wall-to-wall coverage of Red Sox and Mets series starting Tuesday
This week brings us an entire week of action beginning on Tuesday night when “The Rivalry” continues at Fenway Park when the Yankees face the Red Sox.
On Friday night, the first edition of the 2009 Subway Series gets started when the Yankees host the Mets at the Stadium for the weekend.
The blog will have complete coverage of each game like always. Game stories will follow each game and I’ll chime in with a column as well.
Six games, six days of drama.
Let’s do it.
After slow start, Teixeira on fire
NEW YORK - Ok, is it too late to ask for a little forgiveness?
The stuff I said about you earlier in the season was not meant in my normal mean, excessively harsh tone that is usually saved for only the worst of players (see: Angel Berroa).
It was meant as encouragement and said out of frustration because I knew how good of a player you were and had no inexplicable reason why your batting average look to be headed toward the interstate.
At the plate, you looked indecisive and somewhat lost. You were swinging at pitches that were balls and missing good pitches that were strikes. It got to the point were I was having silent bets as to whether you were going to strike out looking or swinging.
Yes, it was that bad.
To say Mark Teixeira was not hitting his weight was putting it mildly. It appeared as if he was going to be hitting Lindsay Lohan's weight if the slump went any further. ‘
April was not the best of month’s fir the Yankees newest prized possession. All winter and spring, he had talked a good game about knowing what it takes and what the expectations and the intense scrutiny he was going to be under in pinstripes. Nothing really prepared him for what he saw when he stepped to the plate for his first at bat of the season at Camden Yards in Baltimore. He was booed mercilessly in his hometown by the fans, and his failures to produce early invoked a reaction he had never seen before in his career.
Without Alex Rodriguez in the lineup, Teixeira was the team's sole “big bat” on a team filled with All-Stars.
Unfortunately, for the Yankees and himself, most days were not very good. He struggled in the month with a batting average hovering under .200. In that first week, he had injured his right wrist and according to him, he was unable for several weeks to get in his normal batting practice cuts from both sides of the plate. This compensation left him rusty at plate and even played a role in his lapse in great defense that he is known for.
He heard it from us during this time. We as fans expect a lot and when you come up far short, the emotion is let out. While I do not condone booing a player myself, I can understand why people let their feelings known.
Then Alex Rodriguez returned to the Yankees on May 8 and all of a sudden, something happened. You became a different player. You became more selective at the plate. Those pop up’s you were hitting became line drives for singles and doubles. Those fly balls that were making it only to the warning track are now “Tex Messages” (term coined by John Sterling) and he has had an incredible hot streak that has him on pace after a slow start to career highs in homeruns and RBI’s.
How about these numbers:
.375 (39 for 104), 12 HR, 35 RBI
He has been on a tear, and that is before you include his incredible, Gold Glove defense at first base. He is the kind of player that you have to watch everyday in order to get a true appreciation for what he brings on both offense and defense.
On one occasion, he will make a nice diving attempt at a ball hit to either his left or right to make an out. Other times he will snare a ball on a tough hop and make it look so easy. In addition, he turns the double play flawlessly.
He is no Jason Giambi at first base.
Watching him shows you how much runs can be saved defensively, make other infielders better and improve the team overall. Having Giambi at first base was an albatross. He had zero range, could not get to balls, and was a butcher whenever the ball was in hands. It got to a point where teams would try to hit balls at him so he can be the one to make a play knowing that the percentages were in their favor that he could not do it.
Teixeira changes the equation. This year, the Yankees have one of the best infield defenses in the league (discounting Posada) and before Tuesday’s night pounding of the Texas Rangers (Teixeira original team), had eclipsed the Major League record for games without committing an error (18).
I’m sure the Boston Red Sox would love to have him on their team. Before signing with the Yankees, all of the rumors and stories had linked him to signing with them. Putting a caliber such as him in his prime as part of a core along with Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury would have been formidable for at least the next five years. 
Suddenly, talks hit a snag and with Brian Cashman’s persistence, he was able to pony up $180 million for eight years to bring the switch-hitting, power producing, and slick-fielding player and put him in the place he claims that he wanted to be all along.
This move has looked even better when you consider the plight of David Ortiz, who looks finished as a hitter and having Teixeira would have made a seamless transition.
Now, Ortiz is a hole in the Boston lineup while Teixeira has filled one of the Yankees biggest holes.
After 2004, the team passed on Carlos Beltran, and that was a regretful mistake.
They were not going to make the same mistake twice.
Right now, Teixeira is playing as if he is worth every penny.
Joba’s dominant start quiets debate…for now
CLEVELAND – It was the eighth inning at Progressive Field and Joba Chamberlain was back on the mound setting up the game for Mariano Rivera.
No, he was not pitching in relief to get those three outs to get the ball to Mo, but rather looking to finish his own start that was going to be one of the finest in his young career.
He has been at the heart of a debate that has been waged in all forms of media for what seems like years only that it has been just over one year since the Yankees declared that he would be used as a starting pitcher.
One side declared that Joba was the perfect future replacement for Mariano Rivera. Another side declaring Chamberlain could develop into the Yankees future ace-starting pitcher for the next decade.
Think of it like the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s waging battle.
With no middle ground, each of his starts was looked at from a unique prism. If he was great, he should remain. If he was average or worse, he should go back to the pen.
It all reached a crescendo in Texas last Tuesday when Chamberlain struggled through four innings, throwing 84 pitches and simply not having his best stuff in an eventual 7-3 loss to the Rangers. He had not resembled the same pitcher the fans had been used to seeing. It was as if he was pitching somewhat defensive and no longer the attack dog that he was known.
He resembled a puppy.
He had some good starts during the early part of this season, but there was an unease and inconsistency to his velocity and performance to where at the very least you began to question who “The Real Joba” was.
Now here he was, back in Cleveland where in Game 2 of the AL Division Series he was seen attempting to fight off not only the Indians in the eighth inning, but the Lake Erie midges with Yankee recommended bug spray. This ill-advised move proceeded to turn his body in a haven for the little creatures and as Michael Kay points out, “It made his neck look like cured pastrami.”
NOTE - I was there at Game 2 and still wonder to this day how that happened. The bugs were not the entire game and somehow with the Yankees leading in the bottom of the eighth 1-0, the little ones show up and make Joba appear he is in the forest.
Jamey Carroll, Kelly Shoppach and Asdrubal Cabrera were the hitters who had the uncomforting task of trying to get on base against him. To that point, Chamberlain had dealt seven strong innings and had overpowered the Indians hitters with a fastball had started at 96 MPH in the first inning and was touching 97 and 98 MPH in the eighth.
Gas. 
He was in a groove and had most of his pitches working on this night. While his slider made not have had the same bite that would normally get hitters to chase, his curveball and occasional changeup were tremendous. Most of the outs registered by the Indians were weak hacks, showing that the difference between the 91 and 96 is enough to turn foul balls into defensive swings and weak outs.
Carroll quickly fell behind 0-2 before grounding out softly to Mark Teixeira at first. Shoppach wouldn’t allow himself to get in a hole and grounded out to Derek Jeter. Cabrera stayed alive for a moment before softly lining out to first.
Inning over.
After 105 pitches, it was the end of the night for Chamberlain as he confidently walked off the mound. It was here where he showed justification of the reasoning behind why the Yankees view him as a long-term starter not only for the season, and for the future.
This brings up back to this.
Last year we debated whether Joba Chamberlain should be a starting pitcher or a top relief ace.
He drafted by the Yankees based on his ability to start games, and it only stood to reason that he was given the chance to apply his craft with the Yankees.
If it doesn’t work out, there is always the alternative of putting him back into the bullpen as utilizing his talents best in the area. However, you have to allow him to fail first as a starting pitcher before any such decision is made on what to do.
What most scribes and moles fail to realize is that the team brought him along and put him in the role of eighth inning relief ace out of necessity because they did not have anyone else at any part of the organization that could do the job.
The Yankees attempted to address the need by plucking a quality reliever from another team. Such a market did not exist and the team was forced to be creative. In addition, as the team found out, trading for a top relief pitcher from a floundering team is a game of Roulette, with the result very tricky.
Want evidence? Ask the Red Sox how the Eric Gagne trade worked out. The Yankees were the exact same market and pass when the price was out of the team’s range.
Here, they succeeded.
Chamberlain was utterly dominant, allowing only a 0.50 ERA and WHIP of 0.50. It was ownage not seen since Mariano Rivera in 1996. Problem is, he was so good that it was such a tantalizing idea to allow him to be the apprentice to Rivera that at it had to at least be considered.
For weeks and months, the conversation continued. The Yankees had always viewed him as a starter despite all of the outside "noise". Chamberlain was so great as a reliever that the only argument that could be made was there could be no way he would replicate his success as a starter that he did when coming out of the pen.
The merits between whether a good starter is more valuable than a great relief pitcher has gone back and forth. Arguments have been heard from both parties and to the point where even I can argue both sides of this.
Originally, I was "Pro-Joba Bullpen" before I did my research and came around to being "Pro-Joba as a starter". The argument can be made, but there is no short-changing that a dominant starter should be taken every time over a relief pitcher no matter how great he is.
100 times out of 100, I would take having Roy Halladay over Mariano Rivera.
In order to utilize Rivera you need to have your starting pitcher get you there first. Having a closer does you no good when you are losing because he does not get into the game if the starting pitcher or bullpen people cannot deliver him the ball in the ninth inning.
While baseball has changed to where pitch counts highly influence the way starting pitchers are used, once could say that if you have a good enough bullpen, you do not need to have the starter go seven or eight innings.
This was the case with last season’s World Champion Philadelphia Phillies, who rode a slightly above average rotation and two great relief pitchers to a championship.
Having that kind of luck is never a given with the volatility of relievers from year-to-year. Your percentages are certainly higher if you put high quality starters on the mound each time out.
This point is accentuated even more in the postseason where your chances of winning are enhanced greatly by having that same high quality pitcher be able to “miss bats” and get strikeouts, rather than have the unfortunately lucky bounce of the ball find a hole to potentially decide a game.
You have to find out what type of pitcher he is going to be. Will Chamberlain be merely a good starter, or a top of the rotation horse? We all are in our mode of “win now” and “to hell with later”, but their does have to be some long-term planning involved here with Chamberlain. Injuries cut back his innings limit last season. Moving him to the bullpen to make him a permanent setup man impedes his growth.
Then you have the “He can always be a starter next year.” Ok, but let me propose this question. If it is the middle of the season and Chamberlain is not performing spectacular as a starter, would you then suggest moving him back to the bullpen? The answer by “that crowd” would certainly be yes.
This is not fair to his career to bounce him up and down like in “Yo-Yo” fashion. You had better find out first before deciding to do anything else. A pitcher with the assortment of great fastball and slider, and above average curveball and improving changeup, must be used as a starter if he can consistently throw 100 pitches and avoiding living on the disabled list.
Why else do you think Chicago Cubs right-hander Rich Harden hasn’t made the transition yet? Soon, the DL may be renamed the “Rich Harden List”.
He will likely reach his innings limit by the end of August and thus, will have to transition back to the bullpen to help the Yankees in that capacity going into and even during the postseason. It is just a matter of whether it is done now or later.
Have him start now and then be able to utilize his talents later.
Either way, both will help the Yankees this season and in the future.
