Bullpen
For all our bashing him earlier in the year, Scott Proctor has been pretty darned good this year. I'm not sure how comfortable I am with him as a set-up man though. I'd feel much more comfortable if Farnsworth got it together, as he has a little history of being a big time set-up man. It would also avoid the situation last year, where we had a 2 man bullpen and were completley screwed in the 6th and 7th innings.
posted by Dodort at 8:38 AM
8 Comments:
Proctor throws in the mid-90s when he's on. There is a lot of upside there. He's not the kind of guy you want to bring into a game with two men on in the 7th, but he could play the role Sturtze did last year.
And speaking of relief, Villone and Myers have been outstanding so far. If, like you say, Farnsworth gets consistent, that's a solid five man pen.
And then there is always Dotel, but there is no sense depending on a guy in his position. Anything he provides is just gravy.
It looks like Proctor has pitched in two close situations. He's won one and lost one. Otherwise the Yanks have been up big when he's come in, or they've already been losing. I'm not to sure what any of that means, other than maybe TJAT and company have the same notion that he's not the goto holds/setup man.
Looking at his numbers, he doesn't walk many. He's really a lot like Sturtze without the control problems. They both throw hard, but not with a lot of movement, and because of that are both prone to give up the long ball. But he's a valueable guy to have around.
I wonder how Small will fit in when he returns. Will Proctor see less time? Will Jaret Wright lose his spot in the rotation?
The bullpen problems are aggravated by the fact that we have only two reliable starters in Unit and Muss. If Chacon can manage some consistency, that would relieve the relief pitchers a lot more too. When you have runners in scoring position, that's when you go to the specialists like Villone and Myers. I do not like Jaret Wright as a reliever OR a starter for that matter, but we have to play the cards dealt to us. We will most certainly trade for a starter before year's end and I think having 3-4 solid starters will make our bullpen more stable. Certainly we don't have a bullpen that can shorten games by two or three innings, but we're not in terrible shape either. Starting pitching will ultimately determine our fate.
Oh yeah, and A-Rod still bothers me but that's something we should reserve for another discussion.
I think I read that Small will be a long reliever, and that they haven't really considered him starting. But you can bet your ass if he is starting that he'll once again be part of the team Team.
Rivera has pitched 1+ innings twice this season, and both times he's given up two runs. Too small a sample to matter an iota, of course, but something to watch for as the season wears on.
It breaks my heart to think about it, but Rivera is 36 years old. He's going to turn into a Todd Jones one of these seasons. Is this the year?
Todd Jones had 40 saves last year big boy...
Adam, I just meant he wouldn't be automatic anymore.
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