Saturday, May 8, 2021

The evolving Yankee bullpen reckoning has begun

Et tu, bullpen? 

Damn. I'd almost forgotten the art of blowing late-inning games. We'd come to blissfully expect zeros - "best bullpen in the majors," they assured us. The 10th was troubling - we never figured out that free runner rule - but the 8th and 9th were ours, (as El Chapo remains perfect, a land mine that hasn't yet exploded.)

Thursday, Mean Chad Green entered the 8th with an ERA of 1.02. He exited at 2.50. Chad has now pitched 18 innings this year - on a projected course to throw 91. That's insane. Until now, the most Chad has ever thrown in one season - back in 2018 - is 75. Last year, he pitched 25 innings. In other words, we're going to run him into the ground. Tick-tick-tick...

Last night, Jonathan Loaisiga entered the hateful 8th with an ERA of 0.98. Today, he sits at 2.89. He also has thrown 18 innings this year. Insane. Until now, the most Loaisga has ever thrown in a season is 31 - thirty-one - back in 2019. Moreover, his four-year career is spackled with arm injuries. If anybody expects him to last the season at this pace - throw 90 innings in a year - I want what they're smoking.

(It must be noted the Loaisga suffered a spectacular collapse by the Yankee defense - betrayed by even Aaron Judge and DJ LeMahieu, normally our best gloves.)

Okay, we knew there'd come a reckoning for the miserable month of April, when we burned through bullpen arms the way televangelists do pool boys. Thus far, Lucas Luetge has thrown 17 innings, Luis Cessa, 15. By comparison, Washington's Tanner Rainey last night notched his 10th inning of 2021. No Nats reliever this year has more than 13.

It's happening, people. The reckoning...

From now on, no lead is safe. And five innings from a starter? That's not enough. April was when we needed Masahiro Tanaka. But our owner saved some money, so there's that.

Finally, for your entertainment - and disillusionment - last night's episodic and painful texts from Alphonso. Welcome to my world...



9 comments:

Joe Formerlyof Brooklyn said...

As became obvious last night, ODOR is the key to future success.

Or something.

TheWinWarblist said...

Or something. Last night was a pathetic display.

Carl J. Weitz said...

"The way TV Evangelists do pool boys"? LOL

To quote Bill Maher: "Jerry Falwell Jr. apparently likes to relax after a hard day at bible college by watching the pool boy do the missus. I know Republicans are lazy and love outsourcing. But come on, this is ridiculous".

Anonymous said...

Our Arson Squad strikes again, aided and abetted by the astounding lack of fundamental defense. Let's face it: we had a nice few days without complaining, beating up on the toothless Tigers and, for two days, the cheating ASS-stros. Now, reality is setting in again. This is a bad team. Our offense stinks. Not only can't we hit right handed pitching. It turns out that we can't hit left handed pitching either. Deivi Garcia should have been on this team from the beginning, filling up some of these middle innings, learning how to get major league hitters out. We have a zillion pitchers on the roster. Why does puppet manager Booney only use Green and Louisiga? Spread the damage around a bit more. We know what our bullpen is. It's the best arson squad in baseball. They know how to blow up games. It ain't going to get any worse by dividing the firebombs amongst our firebugs.

And what the hell is with this 8th inning crap? So Wandy what's-his-face came in and did a good job in the 7th. Didn't throw many pitches. Why does Booney take Wandy out after that? Are Louisiga and Green THE 8th inning guys? Booney manages like a stupid ape who's been trained to push buttons on a console. Sorry, I didn't mean to insult apes. I think most of them are much more intelligent than our puppet manager.

The Hammer of God

TheWinWarblist said...

Hammer, you are correct. Boone is not just any ape. He's a stupid ape.

JM said...

Boone handles the bullpen like Girardi handled the bullpen and Torre handled the bullpen. Certain guys for certain innings. If someone else is pitching well, forget it. They're gone.

Must. Have. This. Pitcher. In. This. Inning.

A 1950s robot voice works with that. Which wouldn't be bad, since managing the Yankees means acting like a 1950s robot.

Of course, Boone doesn't always manage by robotics. That's when he makes really stupid moves.

Kevin said...

The dangers of bullpen over-use was known before Ruth played. So WHY THE FUCK have we come up pitching staffs without reliable starters for roughly twenty fucking years? I'll tell you why: ownership is terrified of dumping huge amounts of money into players who can break if they pickup a suitcase. They could stomach it, barely, when top starters cost five million or less. But thirty million a year buys a yacht filled willed with babes. And strangely enough this team seams incapable of drafting and developing starting pitching. I mean, this has gone into the supernatural. And, let's not forget their strategy of drafting up the middle players for the past twenty years. They're really, really good players until they get close to twenty, then "something" happens to them. Time to cue, the theme from, "The Exorcist".

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