It was impossible to think before the season started, but maybe Kyle Farnsworth was the glue keeping a surprisingly dominant Yankees bullpen together.
Since Farnsworth was traded on July 30 the relievers have fallen apart. And Damaso Marte, whose acquisition made Farnsworth expendable, has been more of a hindrance than help so far. Marte has allowed seven runs over seven innings (9.00 ERA) and the entire bullpen has not been much better giving up 30 runs over 31 1/3 innings (8.62 ERA).
The downfall of the pen is in large part the reason why the Yankees have plummeted in the standings since the trade. They now find themselves five games behind the Red Sox for the wild-card lead heading into tonight’s matchup in Minnesota (8:05, YES, WCBS).
“We still have a lot of capable arms down there,” Joe Girardi said after Farnsworth was dealt. “There’s plenty of arms. We’ll make it work. Will it be as defined as before? Maybe not.”
Farnsworth had become the solid set-up man the Yankees hoped he would be when they signed him two years ago. He had surrendered two runs in his final 10 1/3 innings in Pinstripes. In exchange for Farnsworth the Yankees received Ivan Rodriguez to bolster their lineup with Jorge Posada out for the season. But Rodriguez has struggled going 5-for-21 with one home run and one RBI.
Joba Chamberlain, who departed the bullpen for the rotation earlier in the season, knew that losing Farnsworth would be a big loss. He still had confidence in the guys left behind, but that trust has been misplaced to this point.
“We’ve got a lot of guys in the bullpen that can help us,” Chamberlain said, “but that’s a weapon, that you don’t find too many of those guys that can throw that hard. … It’s a big loss for us in the bullpen.”
The most demoralizing loss authored by the bullpen cane when Dan Giese threw six innings of one-run ball against the Angels. The bullpen came in and promptly allowed 10 runs in two innings turning a 3-1 lead into an 11-4 loss, opening the door for a sweep that was completed the following day.
“We didn’t make quality pitches,” Girardi said. “They were just up. They just didn’t hit their spots today.”
Tonight’s Pitching Matchup:
Yankees RHP Mike Mussina (15-7, 3.27 ERA) The Yankees slim playoff hopes would be dead without Mussina. The 39-year-old has not withered in the August heat throwing 15 innings of two-run ball. And on July 23 he threw eight innings of shutout ball against the Twins as the Yanks rolled 5-1.
Twins RHP Nick Blackburn (9-6, 3.60 ERA) Blackburn is 2-0 since being rocked by the Yanks for six runs over 1 2/3 on July 21. He has pitched 20 innings giving up five runs (2.25 ERA).
With Yankees.com