There’s no polite way to put this, so here goes: If Freddy Garcia is on the Yankees’ postseason roster, then something elsewhere has gone wrong.
But if the Yankees attain all of their goals this year, then Garcia will be quite deserving of his full World Series share.
You need pitching volume to get through the marathon of a regular season, and lately, the savvy veteran Garcia has emerged as one of the Yankees’ best options in the starting rotation. He permitted just two runs over 6 2/3 innings as the Yankees edged dangerous Texas last night at Yankee Stadium, 3-2, for their third straight victory over the two-time defending American League champions.
“I feel great right now,” Garcia (7-5) said after the game. “… If I have a good fastball, everything looks better. That’s what happened today.”
You didn’t picture Garcia’s 2012 playing out like this back in April, when he pitched his way out of a rotation spot with a 12.51 ERA in four starts. Yet the 35-year-old has made a career out of comebacks, and this revival has served the Yankees particularly well.
Garcia re-entered the starting rotation on July 2, as a replacement for the injured Andy Pettitte (left ankle). He has made nine starts in that span, during which he has a 3.69 ERA in 53 2/3 innings. Last night, he allowed a pair of solo homers to Rangers All-Star Josh Hamilton and otherwise contained baseball’s top offense, allowing just two other hits, walking one and striking out six.
The right-hander revealed late last night that, in April, “My arm was, like, dead. I went to the bullpen. I started feeling really good. My arm got better.” For which the Yankees are very grateful.
“He struggled a little bit in the beginning, but we saw good stuff in spring training from Freddy,” said Joe Girardi, who set new boundaries for the term “little bit.” “He’s rebounded nicely for us. It’s been real important with the absence of Andy.”
If the Yankees could script their postseason rotation — say, against the Rangers in the AL Championship Series — they would likely slot CC Sabathia in Game 1, Hiroki Kuroda in Game 2, Pettitte in Game 3 and either Ivan Nova or Phil Hughes in Game 4, with the loser of that derby joining David Phelps and perhaps Derek Lowe as part of the long relief corps. Garcia would probably head to Tampa to keep in shape, in case an injury replacement was needed.
Of course, the Yankees are giving Garcia the ball every fifth day right now because injury replacements are needed — for Sabathia (left elbow) and Pettitte. If they had to design a postseason rotation at this moment, the Yankees would go with Kuroda, then, um… yeah, it would quickly get dicey.
You know that Garcia wouldn’t be fazed by a postseason assignment. You also know, though, that it’s challenging for the sort of pitcher that Garcia is at this juncture, one who relies significantly on contact and needs help from his defense. The right-hander started Game 2 of last year’s AL Division Series against Detroit and took the loss, allowing four runs (three earned) and six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
So if you’re the Yankees, you hope that Sabathia returns on Aug. 24 as he promises, and that Pettitte — who has already suffered a setback in his rehabilitation — somehow finds his way back to October. And then you’ll deal with Game 4, banking on either Hughes or Nova to come into the tournament on a roll and control a game in a way that Garcia once could.
If something falls apart along the way? Just call Garcia your $4 million insurance policy.
“I don’t really have pressure,” he said. “I just go out there and try to do the best.” His success at that venture has kept the pressure off these Yankees.
kdavidoff@nypost.com