David Robertson (Carlos Toro)
David Robertson could be on the verge of supplanting Joba Chamberlain as the Yankees eight-inning setup man.
Robertson has been impressive in recent outings, the latest coming Friday night against the Rays, when he struck out the side in the eighth to set up the Yankees’ comeback. Meanwhile, Chamberlain has been erratic.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi spoke carefully on the topic, but Robertson is earning more trust.
“As we saw last year with [Phil Hughes], if you get on a roll you’re going to pitch more important innings because we’re here to win games,” Girardi said. “I’m not saying on a daily basis I’m going to change our eighth-inning guy. I’m just saying you have to earn your roles here and we evaluate every day.”
As for Robertson taking some eighth-inning responsibility from Chamberlain?
“It’s important that we get both of these guys on a roll,” Girardi said. “For Robbie, he’s had his struggles at times this year. We’re going to do what’s best for the club on a daily basis.”
Robertson struggled early this season, but made a mechanical adjustment and has been very good since mid-May. He gave up four runs against the Blue Jays on July 2, but was asked to pitch two innings that night, something he rarely does.
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The Yankees placed left-handed reliever Damaso Marte on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his left shoulder. The shoulder started bothering Marte in Oakland two weeks ago and remained a problem when the team came back from the All-Star break. An MRI exam on Friday showed inflammation.
This is the same injury that shelved Marte for 3½ months last season. Marte said he is hopeful that he will be able to return in two or three weeks this time.
“Hopefully it won’t be a long period of time but it could be,” general manager Brian Cashman said. “We’ll see.”
Lefty Boone Logan was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take Marte’s roster spot.
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Derek Jeter is mired in a terrible slump. The Yankees captain is 7-for-41 (.171) with four RBIs and seven strikeouts in his last 10 games. Yesterday, he went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.
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Sergio Mitre (oblique) is ready to come off the DL, but the team is waiting until he will be able to pitch again. He pitched three innings Thursday night for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on his rehab assignment. Once he recovers from that, likely Tuesday, he will be activated.
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Former Yankees reliever Luis Arroyo had a mild heart attack Friday night and could not make it to Old-Timers’ Day. According to the Yankees, he was taken to a New York hospital and remained there yesterday for observation. Arroyo, 83, played for the Yankees from 1961-63 and was the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the 1961 World Series.
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With a ton of Old-Timers in the house yesterday, the Yankees gave some of the older players on their roster plenty of grief.
“The guys were saying I’m starting the 3 o’clock game,” said 38-year-old Andy Pettitte, referring to the first pitch of the Old-Timers’ Game.
Of course, Pettitte can just point to his 11-2 record and 2.70 ERA as proof he’s doing just fine.