 Abusing The Pen
It's been quite a three-day stretch for Joe Girardi. Let's take a look at how much Girardi's questionable decisions have cost the team..
Sunday - Edwar throws 29 pitches in 1 inning against the Angels. He's left in to face Teixeira with the bases loaded after walking Willets, giving up a single to Figgins and walking Aybar. Teixeira hits a grand slam to erase a 3-run Yankee lead. The Yankee bats (and Angel gloves) bail Edwar and Joe out. Monday - Damaso Marte throws 42 pitches in 1.1 innings of work. The 42nd pitch is hit for a game-winning grand slam by Marlon Byrd. Marte had walked the bases loaded leading up to Byrd's at bat. David Robertson was warming in the pen the entire inning, but not called on to get the righty out. Tuesday - David Robertson is left in to throw 44 pitches over 1.2 innings. This time, Girardi got him out of there before he could give up the big blow, but it didn't matter. The hole he dug was too deep. The Rangers scored 3 runs in the inning and put the game out of reach. Two things really bother me about this decision by Joe. One, Robertson wasn't used in the game yesterday, but he warmed up on three separate occasions. Getting up and down is hard on the arm, maybe harder than actually going in the game and throwing 15 or 20 pitches. Two, he had Veras, Bruney, Geise and Rasner available at that point. It's not like the pen was short. Why wait that long? Three games with the heat turned up on the Yanks. Three bad decisions by Joey Jr.
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your right richi doesnt know hes supposed to choke there.. honestly who would u want up in that spot?? jeter has been nothing less than putrid time after time he comes up with men on in a key spot and hits into a dp or ks .. yes he had an rbi but i dont think a sac was what we wanted fron the cap in that situation...and was there any doubt a rod wasnt going to come through in the 9th???NO DOUBT i mean why would he ??? hes possible the best right handed hitter of all time VS soft throwing 56 year old everyday eddie its pretty sad to no get excited when hes up with a chance to tie the game ... what a disaster.. what a sickening game ... by the way if farnsworth pitches a clean inning there we win the game .. im sure ill wake up to joba out for the season tomorrow and we can all but throw in the towel
Girardi reminds me of a young Willie Randolph. Seriously. Willie couldn't manage the pen at all when he first came up. He got marginally better as the years went by.
His pen management in the first half of the season was very good. He limited appearances, and pitch counts, got everyone into roles they were comfortable in. It's just over the past week, when the pressure has really been on, that he's completely blown it. Not a good sign.