During
yesterday's game, the bottom of the eighth inning was by far the most
important inning for the Yankees to get through. Severino was out of the game
after throwing seven solid innings, and due up for the Jays were Donaldson,
Bautista, and Morales, who are arguably the three best hitters on the team.
Most people would look at that situation and automatically say that the logical
solution would be to bring Dellin Betances in to face the three of them. Even
if Dellin is the closer, retiring those three was the most important moment of
the game for the Yanks. Bring in one of the best relievers in baseball to face
one of the best hitters, plus two pretty good ones, right?
 |
| Photo by Frank Gunn of AP |
Joe
Girardi thought otherwise. Since Dellin Betances is the ninth inning guy,
he brought in the eighth inning pitcher, Tyler Clippard, who happens to be
an extreme fly ball pitcher (0.62 ground out to fly out ratio in 2017, 0.47 in
his career). Josh Donaldson, the first batter up in the inning, happens to be
an extreme fly ball hitter. The rest is history.
Honestly,
I don’t have that much of a problem with the whole idea of having Clippard
pitching the eighth inning and Betances pitching the ninth, until Aroldis
Chapman comes off the DL. However, that formula should be nothing more than a
guideline. That is not how every single game should be played. Dellin Betances
is a top ten reliever in baseball and he has the ability to strike out hitters
left and right. He’s the guy you bring in to get out of a big situation, like
the at-bat against Donaldson. Forget the bullpen roles at that point. If there
is a time where you need to keep the game scoreless, you bring in your best
reliever. Of course, Girardi can’t utilize Betances the way Terry Francona used
Andrew Miller in the playoffs last year, but the idea of bringing Betances
earlier in the game, if the situation calls for it, is ideal. Bring him in when
the game is on the line.
Another
problem I have with the bullpen usage: why not use Dellin for two innings? He
has shown that he’s more than capable of completing more than one inning, so
why not just send him out for both the eighth and ninth? Monday is an off
day, and he would be rested. So, it’s not like he will be needed tomorrow.
Plus, he pitched one time in the last week, which was on Saturday, in a 7-0 game,
because he "needed to pitch". Girardi only brings him in for save
situations, which is an awful use of such a great reliever. He has Clippard
warming up every single game, though. Why not give some of Clippard’s innings
to Betances?
 |
| Photo by Getty Images |
With that
thought, that brings me to Clippard. He’s been a high leverage inning guy for
most of his career. Yes, he was very good for the Yanks last year, but I can’t
be the only one scratching my head as to how he has just a 1.88 ERA after
today’s game, right? Every time he enters a game, it seems that a run scores.
He’s actually blown just five games this year (it feels like way more.) Of
those, three of them came with runners on base, which means he allowed the
inherited runners to score. April 7th (the fourth game of the
season) and today were the ones he came in with no one and a surrendered a go
ahead run. That’s…not great. Definitely not the guy that I would want coming in
for the highest leverage situations.
This all
brings me back to bullpen roles. Clippard blew three of these games in the
eighth inning. Why not bring Dellin in instead, and have Clippard pitch
the ninth? You have to use your best reliever in the most crucial situation.
Most of the time, yes, that best situation is the ninth inning, which is
why I’m okay with having Dellin Betances as the closer. But if that situation
comes in the innings before it, that’s when he should be pitching. Don’t bring
in Jonathon Holder with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh and
then wonder why the game was lost.
Article by: Alex Weir
Comments
Post a Comment