The issue? Managing the pitching staff.
Joe Girardi may not be the guy the Yankees need going forward. That may sound like a snap judgment, but I say it for this reason.
Courtesy: Bronx Baseball Daily
I’ve watched the MLB change. Most starting pitchers don’t pitch past the 6th inning. There’s been an increase in Tommy John surgeries, too, because so many pitchers are throwing in the high 90s.
Girardi refuses to protect veterans and puts young pitchers in inning restrictions, which taxes the bullpen.
Girardi has been asked time and time again if he’ll switch to a 6-man rotation. No. His reasoning? It’s to keep an extra bat on the bench to pinch run/hit in the late innings.
That made sense at one point, but with the average age of the 40-man roster dropping to 29.3, it doesn’t today. A 6th starter would really help. An extra day not only gives pitchers a chance to rest, it also keeps them sharp in-between starts.
It means an extra day for ‘Old Man Larry’ to work on technique. It means an extra day of ice and heat. It means an extra day for a ‘massage death,’ just like in Mr. Baseball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xujyf5UnlOQ
Having that 6th day keeps every option open and allows you the freedom to let your starting pitchers go an inning deeper into a game — if they’re pitching well.
With all the young arms on the way up from AAA Scranton and AA Trenton, plus the young arms that were acquired via trade, the Yankees could not only keep Tanka fresh, but they could begin grooming young arms against MLB talent.
Courtesy: NJ.com
Protecting the starters also means protecting the flame-throwing bullpen. With so many power arms and David Robertson’s cutter (learned from Mo Rivera), the Yankees would be a constant threat.
While the long relief of Bryan Mitchell and Chad Green has been positive, now is the time to push the youth envelope. Perhaps it’s time to bring up young pitchers and see if they can help Chapman head in the right direction.
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