Yankees Pitching Won't Get Them to a World Series
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by Kayos
Watching the New York Yankees versus the Boston Red Sox last night had me in serious thought. The Yankees are a "Win when they want to win" type team. Then they can also be a "can't come from behind for all the money in the world" type team. Seeing the desomation the Detroit Tigers put on them late last week and early this week was almost heartbreaking. Pitching says a lot for teams. Do the Yankees have pitching? Yes, they do. The real question is are the pitchers going to make an impact when their turn in the rotation comes up.
I've seen many pitchers on the New York roster pull off great games. Then you have the pitchers that come up and you groan like you have the world's worst stomach ache. Kyle Farnsworth is one of these pitchers. How do you manage to blow a 3 run lead with 2 outs left in the 8th inning?!? Every time I watch this man pitch, I know he'll live up to the 4.50 ERA which isn't bad but compared to the average ERA of 3.73 the Boston Sox has, it's pretty disappointing to say the least and he holds a .03 lesser average of the Yankees bullpen! Roger Clemens pitched a hell of a game. He was working a no-hitter until David "Big Papi" Ortiz hit a homer in the upper deck in the top of the 6th. He pitched 6 innings with 2 hits, 1 ER, 5 BB, and 2 SO. He's older so give him credit but you can see the Rocket is losing his momentum and velocity as time goes by. He walked 5 people last night but it was the team who played defense by not earning any errors. Luis Vizcaino relived Clemens in the 7th inning and pitched one inning earning one strike out and a base on balls. It wasn't until Farnsworth came into the 8th inning the Sox made the game more interesting. Kevin Youkilis hits a 2 run homer with Mike Lowell on base to make the game 4 to 3 favor of the Yanks.
Now, pitching is everything. I've seen Farnsworth pitch decent innings but how do you trade a 3.81 ERA pitcher in Scott Proctor to LA and NOT trade Farnsworth. His arm is inconsistent, shaky at best. He's unpredictable. He's not a team player. His less than warm welcome to Roger Clemens is proof of that. I see the releasing of Mike Myers. I even see the trade of Scott Proctor but why trade Proctor when you have Farsnworth, Coulter Bean, Kei Igawa, Jim Brower, and Jeff Karstens to choose from. This is a sucky bullpen. Now, Mike Mussina doesn't know what's wrong with him. He's gone from an average 3.70 ERA to 5.53 average with 18.00 ERA in the last 7 starts. The only hopes I see are in the Rocket, Andy Pettite, Chien-Ming Wang, and Mariano Rivera bring up the rear with saves.
What the Yankees need to do instead of paying all this money for these big names is to replenish the bullpen. They have some fresh hands in Joba Chamberlain and Edwar Ramirez. Ramirez had a great first game but lost it in his third appearance by walking the bases loaded during a game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He was sent down and brought back up again. Haven't seen much from him since. The Yanks need a bullpen. They have talent if you read the numbers. See them in action, the pitching is a flop. I won't comment on the Red Sox and how crucial it is for the Yankees to win every single game against them. I will say trying to beat them in season play is a distant memory. The Bronx Bombers are relying on the Wild Card to enter the playoffs. If they cannot keep winning to keep Seattle at bay then the pinstrip uniforms will be watching the playoffs from the clubhouse hangers.
