The way Joe Torre used his bullpen over the weekend you would think the Yankees and Red Sox were playing a seven-game series in October instead of a relatively meaningless three-game series in April.
Torre is a great manager that usually knows how to push all the right buttons but some of his moves over the weekend showed he obviously got caught up in the hype. Sure, whenever the Yankees and Red Sox get together it makes for great drama, but Torre’s decision to use Mariano Rivera in the eighth inning on Friday and Andy Pettitte in the sixth on Sunday reeked of desperation.
What makes Torre’s decision even more troubling was that he said he would not bring in Rivera in the eighth. Yet with the Yanks ahead, 6-2, on Friday night Torre brought in Rivera with one out in the eighth and watched his prized closer coughed up the lead as the Red Sox rallied for five runs.
You could argue that Rivera is to blame -- after all, his job is to shut down opposing batters -- but he isn’t a two-inning pitcher anymore, especially this early in the season. Only in the most dire situations (must-win game in September or playoffs) should Rivera enter the game in the eighth.
Although you could never measure this, I’m sure it’s psychologically disturbing for a closer to enter a game early or during a non-save situation. The same principle goes for a starter. Why was Pettitte making his second relief appearance of the season on Sunday? Consider this: prior to this season, Pettitte has made just one relief appearance in the past 10 seasons. I’m sure Pettitte was just trying to help out the depleted bullpen, but considering he worked 6 1/3 innings on Friday he should have been no where near the mound on Sunday. Moreover, he’s a starter for crying-out-loud, not a reliever. What do you think would have happened if Pettitte had gotten hurt Sunday while making a relief appearance?
All hell would have broken loose!
Despite the fact that the Yankees pitching staff is terrible right now, in the long run they will be just fine. Remember folks, the season is a marathon and not a sprint. It’s foolish to put so much at stake for one series. Teams need to be playing their best in September, not April. Therefore, it really doesn’t matter if the Yankees bullpen is struggling because once they get back starters Mike Mussina, Chien-Ming Wang and Carl Pavano from the disabled list things will turn around and all will go back to normal in the baseball world. So please, be patient. There are still more than 140 games left to play in the season. Now’s not the time to panic.
