Once Cliff Lee took his talents to South Philly and Andy Pettitte announced his retirement, the New York Yankees 2011 season was destined to unfold as it has: a Derek Jeter milestone, an Alex Rodriguez injury, an Mariano Rivera saves record . . . and finally the ever-popular Postseason Rotation Balderdash.
And here s the irony: Given how their pitching staff looked on Opening Day, Yankees fans should be turning backflips in the Bronx about how their team has performed this season.
Rodriguez, 36, has missed a career-high number of games because of injury. Jorge Posada , the 40-year-old designated hitter, mustered only 13 home runs. Three potential late-inning relievers Joba Chamberlain , Pedro Feliciano and Damaso Marte have missed all or most of the season with arm injuries. Bartolo Colon and have combined to start 48 games.
Yet the Yankees are likely to finish with the best record in the American League. So, give credit where it s due. Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi and their charges have had good seasons. But they understand the bargain of playing baseball in New York: Making the tournament is an expectation, not an achievement. Celebrate it, sure. Then give us the AL Division Series probables.
The list will include CC Sabathia , and two names that sound something like Kevin Brown and Javier Vazquez. And that s when the absences of Lee (and Pettitte) will become particularly acute.
Not to trivialize what the Yankees have achieved during the regular season , after all, has emerged as a superstar but very soon the 162 will be reduced to Jeter s 3,000th hit, Rivera s 602nd save and Burnett s 78th mechanical adjustment.
The past six months were a dress rehearsal for October, the curtain is about to go up . . . and the pitching parts are still being distributed. The starting rotation is unquestionably the Yankees greatest weakness entering the postseason. And very soon, we will know how far-reaching those worries truly are.
Today s doubleheader against Tampa Bay is crucial to the Yankees fate this season and not because they will arrive at Yankee Stadium with a chance to celebrate the AL East title by night s end. The two games matter so much because of New York s starting pitchers: Phil Hughes and CC Sabathia . Both have questions surrounding them with only one week left in the regular season. Both are needed to perform in order for the Yankees to advance in the playoffs.
Hughes has had a mercurial two seasons. He was an All-Star in 2010 but faded in the second half and lost both of his starts in the AL Championship Series. Early this season, Hughes experienced arm fatigue and a drop in velocity. He took a sabbatical to the disabled list, returned to the rotation in July and has performed capably since then: 5-4 with a 4.67 ERA in a little more than 60 innings.
Yankees fans may want to replace capably with better than Burnett in the above sentence. And that would be correct: Over the same time period, Burnett s ERA is 7.21. Along with the recent struggles of the first-half stalwart Garcia, that would point to a postseason starting assignment for Hughes.
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