Kelley's Return To The 'Pen A Very Welcome One

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

It's been exactly 5 weeks since Shawn Kelley was put on the disabled list with back stiffness and 5 weeks and a day since he last pitched in a Major League game.  Before he hit the DL, Kelley had been a critical part of what, at the time, was an overachieving bullpen.  He had a 3.52/2.36/3.83 line and 16 strikeouts in 15.1 IP, all of them worked as either the setup man or closer.  The Yankee 'pen has stayed afloat and even flourished in parts without Kelley for the past month, primarily because Dellin Betances and Adam Warren have proven that their strong April starts were no fluke.  They've teamed up to build a very sturdy bridge to D-Rob, but the return of Kelley to the late-inning mix tonight should help reset the workload arrangement for the group and make the Yankee 'pen even deeper and better.

Careful Not To Over-Rest Mo

(Courtesy of the AP)

Mariano Rivera made his return to the mound last night after a week off from action.  He hadn't pitched since blowing his third consecutive save last Sunday against the Tigers, and no, nothing was physically wrong with him.  After experiencing his first rough patch of the season, Joe elected to give Mo some extra time off after a somewhat heavy workload the week prior.  Overworking a 43-year-old baseball icon and risking injury to him would not be a fun way to finish Mo's final season, but to go a full week between appearances seemed like a bit of overkill.  After all, the only way a pitcher gets over command problems is by continuing to pitch and working through them.  Mo's recent struggles being command-based, it would have been helpful to get him some work prior to last night.

Lack Of Logic In The Claiborne Demotion

The Yankees had to make yet another roster move yesterday to clear a 25-man spot for the newly signed Mark Reynolds.  In a move that came as a surprise, it was Preston Claiborne who got sent down.  With rosters expanding in 2 weeks, it's not the end of the world for him.  Claiborne will be called back up and he should re-assume the role he had carved out as top middle inning guy.  Still, the decision to send Claiborne down when there were other more worthy candidates doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Rotation Issues Creating An Extra Need For Middle Relief, An Opportunity For Young Pitchers

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Last Tuesday, in light of the middle relief corps' poor start, I questioned the decision making in letting pitchers like David Aardsma and the still injured at the time Clay Rapada go in favor of guys like Shawn Kelley and Cody Eppley.  I also quickly questioned the logic in keeping the team's top two spot starters, David Phelps and Adam Warren, together in the bullpen as long relievers rather than sending one of them down to stay stretched out in case the Yankees needed a spot start or two.  The middle relief issue has faded to the background a bit as the Yankees have gone on a nice little 6-1 run since their rough start, and Eppley has been banished to Triple-A thanks to the return of Phil Hughes to the rotation.  But as that rotation has come together and everybody has gone through at least twice, the need for strong middle relief, particularly long relief, has continued to be put on display.

Early Bullpen Struggles Bring Questionable Roster Decisions Into Light

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

The bullpen was supposed to be a strength again this year.  The Yankees came into Spring Training with the core seven guys all but guaranteed roster spots, or so we thought.  As injuries in other parts of the roster mounted, and the resulting personnel moves to cover them created a 40-man roster crunch, some of those spots became less of a guarantee, and at the end of camp there was more than a bit of surprise when David Aardsma and Clay Rapada were DFA'd.  Their back end bullpen spots were given to Shawn Kelley and Cody Eppley, with Adam Warren making the cut as well as long man coverage for Phil Hughes.  With just seven games in the books, it's hardly an "end of the world" problem, but the poor performance of those late additions and the slightly surprising struggles of Joba Chamberlain and Boone Logan has me once again questioning some of those "in/out" roster decisions.

The ALCS, Where Bullpen Logic Goes To Die

(Best relief pitcher on the time right now.  Didn't pitch in the biggest spots.  Does not compute.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

It got glossed over by almost everybody after Game 1 because of the 9th-inning drama and Derek Jeter injury in extra innings, and it got glossed over again yesterday thanks to Hiroki Kuroda's outstanding performance, the lineup's non-existent performance, and Jeff Nelson's horrible 8th-inning call, but I can't bite my tongue about it today.  The failure on Joe Girardi and his staff's part to use David Robertson and Rafael Soriano in the 8th and 9th innings of both games in this ALCS is an absolute managerial disgrace of the highest order, and a much bigger contributing factor to the Yankees losses in those games than people realize.

Don't Sleep On Clay Rapada

(Raise your hand if you thought this guy would be on the roster all season.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

Enough time has passed for me to get over Loone Bogan's 7th-inning bed shitting incident the other night.  In the end, it didn't cost the Yankees any ground in the division race and they still left the Twin Cities with a series victory.  What is still a serious problem is Logan's workload and the negative impact it now seems to be taking on his effectiveness.  Logan is the no-doubt #1 lefty in Joe's trusty bullpen binder, but he's been used so much that I almost have to question bringing Logan into big lefty-on-lefty situations with how out of gas he appears to be.  While Logan has been run into the ground over the course of the season, Clay Rapada has quietly continued to go about his business, and go about it quite well, as the designated #2 LOOGY.  In an attempt to get Logan some much needed rest, and to not risk blowing leads in tight games in the season's final week, it might be time to go to Rapada.

Joe Leaning On His Bullpen Core

(How many untucks is too many?  Courtesy of Getty Images)

A Monday or 2 ago, I suggested the idea of Joe tinkering with his middle relief crew to see if he could find some more stable options.  With the deeper pool of guys he could help cover for the regression of some players, keep some of the harder-worked guys rested, and possibly overturn a viable option or 2 for postseason roster consideration.  Not only has that tinkering not really taken place, the regular middle relief crew has seen their workload cut back a bit in these last 2 weeks.  Joe has been leaning heavily on his core group of high-leverage relief pitchers lately, and now there might be cause for concern.

Reconsidering The Middle Relief Hierarchy

(Why is this guy still getting the ball over Wade?  Courtesy of the AP)

When the Yankees announced their first round of September call ups a little over a week ago, I commented on the perception of the move as one of desperation and semi-panic, at least in my eyes.  To pull some of the top Triple-A contributors away from their postseason to become the 30th and 31st men on the Major League roster didn't make a whole lot of tactical sense unless Joe was planning on working everybody into the PT rotation somehow.  There was certainly a case for adding these extra bodies with the Yankee roster being as beat up and stale as it was, particularly in the middle relief department.  So far though, there hasn't been much of a change in Joe's usage rates when it comes to his middle relief crew, bringing up the question of just why the Yankees called up some of the players they did.

Middle Relief Regression Is A Bummer

(They haven't all been "Booooooone" chants this month.  Courtesy of The AP)

Considering the injuries that they've had to deal with, the job the Yankee bullpen has done this season has been nothing short of outstanding.  Rafael Soriano has been even better than he was in his standout 2010 season that inspired the top Yankee brass to offer him his big contract, D-Rob has been quietly awesome again, and there have been big contributions from some very unexpected sources to help soak up middle innings while other guys were out.  It is those middle innings that have become a problem this month, as the 'pen has regressed to a 4.29/3.44/3.55 line in 50.1 combined innings of work.  The problem has been the bulk of the guys pitching in front of D-Rob and Soriano starting to struggle, leaving the pickings slim and risky when Joe has to manage the 6th and 7th innings.  The Yankees didn't make a move to add bullpen depth at the trade deadline, counting on the return of Joba Chamberlain being a stabilizing factor.  That hasn't happened and now the middle relief corps is turning into a weakness at the wrong time of the season.

Relax With Joba, People

(Give the guy a break, folks.  He's just coming back.  Courtesy of The AP)

I appreciated Joba's openness and matter-of-fact assessment of his performance yesterday.  In the same vein as Eric Chavez's straightforward comments about the losing streak last week, Joba's real talk when discussing the job he did on the mound yesterday was refreshingly honest and the type of thing I would expect Joba to say.  He's a professional, he wants to do well, he wants to help the team win, and he's smart enough to recognize that he hasn't been doing that since coming back from his long injury layoff.  Joba has never been one to shy away from blame when he doesn't get the job done, and going just on the numbers so far it's pretty clear that he hasn't been getting the job done.  6 ER on 13 H and 4 BB in 6 IP is an ugly line for a reliever, and normally well within the parameters for determining a guy's worthiness of receiving some Bronx cheers.

Is Boone Logan Getting The Joe Torre Treatment?

(Post-Jason Heyward HR in Atlanta. Courtesy of The AP)

Since being acquired as a throw-in part of the now infamous Javy Vazquez trade, Boone Logan has steadily risen up in reliever status from "he's not the worst in the world" in 2010 to "you know, he can be pretty good when you use him in the right spots" in 2011 to "this dude can really pitch" this season.  Logan has been productive enough in his 2+ years in pinstripes that it's almost fair to start referring to that trade as "The Boone Logan Trade" if you want to put a positive spin on it.  There was a time earlier this season when Logan was the best reliever out in the Yankee bullpen, and that, combined with the injuries/recent Cory Wade sucktitude suffered by the 'pen this year has put Logan in a bit of a precarious position.  He hasn't got off to a good start in July (5 ER, 3 BB, 2 HR allowed in just 2.2 IP), and looking at his usage rate already, it's worth questioning if old Booney (copyright: Joe Girardi) is getting overworked.

Wondering About David Phelps' Role

(Courtesy of The AP)

The late-spring injuries helped, but David Phelps definitely earned his spot on the Yankee 25-man roster with the job he did in Spring Training, and quickly made people take notice of him after his first few successful appearances out of the 'pen.  Since then, he's had a couple of rough outings, made a pair of spot starts, and been used in a variety of different scenarios as the pitching portion of the Yankee roster continued to change due to injuries.  The roster has been relatively stable since D-Rob hit the DL, and it seems like a good time to talk about just how, and where, Phelps fits in the bullpen hierarchy moving forward.

Joe Forgot The 1st Rule Of Using Clay Rapada Club

(This guy never forgets the rules.  Courtesy of Inside Out Night)

Well, OK, the second rule.  The first one is obviously "Do Not Talk About Using Clay Rapada Club."  But the second is far more important when it comes to the Yankees winning games, or at least staying close in games they're losing.  That rule, in case you've forgotten, is...

The Benefit Of 20/20 Foresight (And Failing To Use It)

I'm always the first to pipe up about Joe's on-field decisions when it comes to managing his bullpen, be they good calls or bad calls (usually bad).  But for the Yankees to extend that questionable bullpen decision-making to the pre-game, well that's something I'm not familiar with and something I was very surprised to see play out yesterday.  If you were not aware, the Yankees entered last night's game quite understaffed in their relief corps after the previous 2 games.  Let's review:

• David Phelps- Unavailable after pitching 2.1 innings in relief of Freddy Garcia on Tuesday night
• Cory Wade- Ditto
• D-Rob- Unavailable after pitching 1 inning in consecutive nights on Monday and Tuesday
• Mo- Ditto*

* (Mo shouldn't have been available, but when your team gets the lead in extra innings on the road, you can't leave that lead in the hands of Clay Rapada)

That left the Yankees with just 2 guaranteed available arms out of the 'pen last night in Boone Logan and Clay Rapada, both guys who are best utilized as short-relief lefty specialists.  Rafael Soriano was a game-time decision after ripping the nail off the middle finger of his pitching hand while warming up on Tuesday night, and I don't remember reading anywhere prior to the game that his availability had been confirmed.  The Yankees knew all of this after last night's game ended.  None of this was a surprise or something that caught them off guard, and they had plenty of time to make a roster move to add some depth, and yet they chose not to.