None of us is perfect, Joe Girardi said Sunday, making mankind a co-conspirator in his indecision that failed to intentionally walk Kendry Morales and ensured the first Yankees series loss of the season.
Indeed, even on a 12-6 defending World Series champion that has four starters pitching practically lights out, there are signs of the human condition. Javier Vazquez’s 9.00 ERA is one. Mark Teixeira’s .119 batting average is another. The 17 runs allowed in 31 innings of relief pitched by anyone other than the so-far perfect Mariano Rivera is a third concern.
Perhaps CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett have been so good, rust has become a fair problem in the middlin’ performance of the middle men. Then too, maybe the fewer innings required of a bullpen during April, the better it will pitch in July and August.
Time and again it has been demonstrated that relievers become most comfortable when used in specific roles. And certainly starters know by now that they will work every fifth day. Holy Ed Whitson, Vazquez has been bad, worse even than he was the first time through The Bronx, fueling the presumption that a pitcher with 143 career wins, 15 of them last season in Atlanta, is proving incurably allergic to New York.
So far, we fail to see the link between a fastball currently barely hitting 90 mph and any debilitating fear of Big Apple scrutiny. Nevertheless, should pitching coach Dave Eiland’s mechanical tinkering restore Vazquez’s velocity and more 3-0 leads disappear regardless, we’re willing to consider all possibilities, including one that bringing this guy back was the dumbest idea since Kei Igawa.
In the meantime, the Yankees are producing four practically stress-free games out of five, a remarkable phenomenon that should be enjoyed for as long as it lasts. Ask the 8-11 Red Sox, who loaded up with $42 million starting pitching money this season at the probable expense of their offense. Rotations so well-oiled are never to be taken for granted.
Pettitte is soon to be 38, Hughes will be expected to make 30 starts for the first time in his career, and only once in his 11 previous seasons has Burnett pitched to a season-long ERA in the neighborhood of his current 3.20.
The Red Sox will get it together, three good AL East teams will have to push themselves hard for two postseason spots and every fifth day, the Yankees will not be going to the mound with house money, particularly if their sixth, seventh and eighth innings remain so problematic.
Curtis Granderson is off to only a fair start. Nick Johnson’s latest malady is a bad back, not the frozen shoulder suggested by a bat he refuses to put into play. So far he is no Hideki Matsui or even Johnny Damon, so a .667 winning percentage pace for the team is impressive only for as long as it lasts, and it has for a complete season only eight times in the franchise’s illustrious history.
We doubt if any Republicans on the team took the time yesterday to thank President Obama for health care reform. But as proficient as the Yankees have looked, they haven’t shed all their grey beards and, as seamless as have been most of the transitions from significant offseason decisions, they are not bulletproof, either. When something else inevitably breaks, they are going to need Vazquez fixed.