With the playoffs right around the corner, Masahiro Tanaka
missing a start tonight and Nathan Eovaldi playing catch in hopes of coming
back into the bullpen this season there is borderline mass hysteria going on
right now in Yankees-Land. While the American League East Division race is far
from over the Yankees may have to settle for a Wild Card berth and a one-game
playoff, and that’s okay, but the idea of having a one-game playoff truly
scares me and it should scare you to.
The biggest problem with a one-game playoff is obviously
that anything can happen. The Yankees seem unlikely to have to spend their
rotation and bullpen in the later parts of the season simply to get in, it’s as
close to a done deal as you’re going to get, so New York can line up their ace
Tanaka to start the must win victory. While that gives me confidence I still
worry about Tanaka’s tendency to give up the long ball. This by no means
indicates that I think Tanaka is a bad pitcher or that I think someone else
should start the game, because I don’t on either case, but with an “anything
can happen” mindset it’s scary to think that Tanaka’s 1.4 HR/9 ratio is a shade
under Phil Hughes 1.5 HR/9 ratio that essentially ran him out of town after
2013.
With that said though having Eovaldi in the bullpen
essentially replacing the gap left open by Adam Warren when he entered the
starting rotation could be a boost. It could give Joe Girardi one more arm that
he trusts coming out of the bullpen and one more arm that can reach triple
digits. We’ve seen Eovaldi throw 102 MPH in the starting rotation and reach 100
MPH consistently, could you imagine him letting it all go for just one inning?
He could make Aroldis Chapman look like Jamie Moyer in his final season, I
exaggerate a tad but really.
There is a lot going on inside Yankees-Land right now and
that’s a good thing. No one worries about these things if the team was 13 games
away from a long winter, the team is headed for at least 14 games if not more,
and that’s a good problem to have.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)