What happened the last time we signed a left handed relief
pitcher that the Boston Red Sox did not want? Matt Thornton happened. The
Yankees may never learn from their past and are doomed to repeat it. New York,
as we all know by now, traded for former Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies
reliever Chris Capuano and added him to the 40 man and 25 man rosters yesterday
at the expense of Chris Leroux. Capuano will make the start this afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays at 1:05 pm ET at Yankee Stadium.
Thornton is a prime example of why you cannot base your
judgments solely on the numbers. Thornton’s ERA looks good at 2.91 (Capuano's MLB ERA is 4.55) but he has
allowed 36% of his inherited runners to score. Thornton has also held same side
hitters to a .265 average (Capuano has allowed a .333 average to lefties), not so good for a LOOGY. Thornton has been far from
a disaster, I’ll be the first to admit that, but he hasn’t been as great as
some may be making him out to be, Twitter here is looking at you kids.
Instead of Capuano joining an all of a sudden crowded, lefty heavy and
veteran bullpen he will join a rotation that has been pieced together in the past few weeks. Chase Whitley will head to the bullpen after making the most of his starting opportunity for the Yankees. It will be
interesting to see how it all plays out but honestly I cannot say I am too
confident. I am officially a Capuano doubter and I hope that the man proves me
wrong this afternoon in the Bronx.
Stay tuned.
Me Too! I love it when I'm wrong sometimes, but today feels like a blowout. Even though you can't predict baseball. LOL
ReplyDeleteYou got that right. Maybe he can find a cutter like McCarthy and blow the doors off.
DeleteOoh, I've seen enough of Francis.
DeleteI was a Francis doubter too, at least that was warranted.
Delete