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Yeah, I'm all kind of pissed right now. Freaking Joe Girardi. What the heck are you doing my man? His bullpen management cost the Yankees the game tonight! And I don't want to hear from anyone that it's only April, or that it's the 5th game of the season, or that it's only one game or only one loss. Divisions are lost and playoffs are missed because of one loss. Every game matters and every loss counts, regardless of when the game is played. Tonight's loss didn't need to happen. If the Yankees miss the playoffs by one game this will be one of the losses that could have changed their fate.
I'm putting this loss on Girardi's bullpen management because he made a move that shouldn't have been made and it came back to bite him in the ass. Joe never should have opened the 8th inning with Rafael Soriano on the mound. The right play was open with David Robertson and go to Soriano if Robertson gets into trouble. That's how I would have managed it. Here's why: The Yankees were up 4-0. Soriano had just pitched the day before. Freddy Garcia is starting tomorrow and who knows what you'll need from your bullpen. I would have tried to save his arm as much as I could. David Robertson is a quality RP and has the stuff to get hitters out. Girardi should have let him take a shot.
The thing that makes me the most annoyed is how Girardi responded to questions in his post game press conference? When asked why he went to Soriano he responded because Soriano is "our 8th inning guy." Umm, what? Last time I checked every game has an 8th inning. What are you going to do Joe? Use him every game? You've got to be smart and pick your spots. Tonight wasn't the right spot. Many factors need to be taken into account. The biggest factors: What's the lead? (4 runs) When did he pitch last? (yesterday) When will he be needed again? (possibly tomorrow). Add all that up and your answer should be: open the 8th with another pitcher. Girardi also comment that he didn't want to bring Soriano in during the middle of an inning? Why not Joe? Soriano is a closer by nature, not a set-up guy. Everybody knows that closers do better when something is on the line? We've all seen Mariano Rivera falter in non-save situations. Maybe bringing Soriano in with a 4-run lead isn't a good idea. I'm sure he'd do better with a little pressure. Who knows? One last question for Joe: who's your 8th inning guy tomorrow?
Aargh. It's late and my brain is fried. I want to blog a little more but I still have some stuff to do before bed and in addition to being pissed I'm dead tired. Here are the rest of my game thoughts in quick-hit fashion:
- Great outing by CC. He was in mid-season form. He'll only get better. Too bad the pen couldn't hold it. CC deserved the win.
- Mark Teixeira hit another 3-run HR. Doesn't look like he'll struggle this spring. He's locked in.
- Andruw Jones. Welcome to NY. Nice first AB. He hits LHPs rather well. Keep it up.
- I hate lefty specialists. I've said it for years. Boone Logan didn't get it done tonight. He's there to get out Denard Span and Joe Mauer, not issue leadoff walks and singles. Shape up or you're getting shipped out.
After ranting about Girardi, let me add this: I know it's not all his fault. Players still need to execute. It was Rafael Soriano's job to get those guys out, He failed in that. But again, he shouldn't have been in the game to implode like that. Aargh.
Peace, love and Pinstripes,
J-Boogie
3 comments:
Agree with all you said, except that I would have left CC in to start the 8th. Even though his command was not the best, the Twins hitters did not have a clue. In my book, you don't take CC out when he has just retired the last 17 hitters!! This is another Joe G hang-up - CC was at 104 pitches and Joe's loose leaf binder probably says "100 pitches max" right next to who will pitch the 8th inning. The way the AL East is, if you don't win every game you SHOULD by making bone-head moves, you will find yourself looking up at the O's and the dreaded Red Sox.
Totally agree with you on how Girardi screwed this game up. When he brought in Soriano, I felt like it was a bad call because he had pitched the day before. You've got Minnesota in your back pocket and a strikeout pitcher like Robertson who needs work warming up, why not use him? They have a big series coming up against Boston; not a good idea to overuse Soriano at this point.
And although I know the thought is that it's early in the season and you definitely don't want to burn out your starters, I would have left CC in for the 8th. At 100 pitches, and the way CC fooled Minnesota the whole game with his changeup and slider, not to mention that he was able to keep the speed on his fastball at 93, I saw no reason to not let him go at least 2/3 of the 8th.
Great post, J-Boogie.
Sorry for not responding yesterday. I tried. had a whole comment written, went to post it, any my work PC wouldn't let me.
I agree with you guys. CC definitely could have stayed in the game. That was probably the better move.
I also don't get why Girardi said he went with Sori b/c he's the 8th inning guy, but then would have gone to D-Rob, who's not the 9th inning guy. Logically you'd think that would mean he'd go to Mo with a 4-0 lead then. And you know he wouldn't do that. He even said he was trying to save Mo from pitching. D-Rob was the right RP to go with. If he holds the Twins scoreless and then the Yankees score some runs, then you don't need either Sori or Mo. I don't get the move. At all.
Yanks should be 5-1 right now. Way to go Joe.
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