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Yankees Pitching Staff is Falling Apart

The Yankees once had the best pitching rotation in baseball. Lately, things are starting to fall apart. Andy Pettite is out for around a month with a groin pull, Phil Hughes is starting to struggle in his last few outings not picking up a win, A.J. Burnett still isn’t straightened out, and Javier Vazquez is either on or terrible. The only pitcher that is going well right now is C.C Sabathia.
Then there is the bullpen, once the Yankees strength in 2009, 2010 is a completely different story. Right now as I am typing, David Robertson loaded the bases and luckily got out the jam, but he made things shaky. Vazquez started today’s game and once has a 6-0 lead and now in the bottom of the sixth the Angels are now only down by one 6-5. Luckily the Yankees offense is on fire right now, otherwise the Yankees would be losing a lot more.
Back to the bullpen, Joba Chamberlin is never a sure thing as Mariano’s setup man. When Chamberlin’s slider isn’t working he is very hittable, batter’s wait on his fastball when his slider isn’t on. When Chamberlin’s slider is on, it is hard to tell if a fastball is coming or a slider which leads to a lot of strikeouts. The bottom line is, Chamberlin is not reliable.
Where do I start when it comes to Chan Ho Park. What a terrible mistake for the Yankees. When Park comes into the game you know the Yankees are losing big or he’s the only pitcher available because every time he comes in it seems like the Yankees lose the game. Park is definitely the worst pickup for the Yankees in 2010.
The rest of the bullpen is made up of names like Boone Logan, Chad Gaudin, and Demaso Marte. Not one of them is a sure thing either. A stunning stat is the Yankees bullpen all have an ERA over 4.00 with the lowest being Logan’s at 4.05.
The Yankees are rumored to be looking at Scott Downs from the Toronto Blue Jays. Downs is an excellent setup man, he has a 2.52 ERA in the 44 games he pitched in this season. The Yankees need a guy like downs to straighten their bullpen out.
Again as I’m typing Chamberlin just came into the game and pitched the bases loaded just like Robertson the inning before, but he did get out of the jam also. These guys are always flirting with disaster.
Everyone knows the Yankees are going to make at least one trade for a bullpen pitcher and maybe a starter. The Yankees already showed they are looking for starting pitchers when they just about had Cliff Lee, just to let him slip through their fingers and go to the Rangers. I am surprised the Yankees let that happen. The Yankees do not like getting embarrassed and that certainly was embarrassing.
Some other starting pitchers that are on the block that the Yankees might pick up are Ted Lilly, who started his career with the Yankees, Roy Oswalt, Jake Westbrook, Fausto Carmona, and Dan Haren. (mlb.com)

By Eric Heyer of Sports Fan Blog Network

July 21, 2010 Posted by homerunheyer | A.J. Burnett, Blogger, CC Sabathia, Eric Heyer, Javier Vazquez, Joba Chamberlain, MLB, Mariano Rivera, NY Yankees News, New York Yankees, Original Content | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

   

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