Joe Girardi has gone by his formula, but it’s time to change the formula.
Yes, Rafael Soriano should be a tremendous weapon in the eighth inning, but the former closer can’t handle this situation. His head isn’t right for it right now.
It’s an old pitching lesson — where the head leads, the arm follows.
The issue is now: What are the Yankees going to do with their eighth-inning problem? It wasn’t just the two-run home run Soriano surrendered to Paul Konerko that turned the game around and gave the White Sox a 3-2 victory last night at Yankees Stadium, ruining a spectacular effort from young Ivan Nova, who made a starting rotation statement.
It wasn’t just the hit by pitch, the walk and the single that Soriano gave up to the White Sox in the inning or the home run. It was his lack of composure, his inability to overcome mistakes or to handle the pressure that is New York.
The Yankees have enough issues with Phil Hughes’ dead arm. They don’t need Soriano’s dead approach to the eighth inning to kill them.
Girardi needs to demote Soriano to the seventh inning and let David Robertson, who worked out of a seventh-inning jam in relief of Nova, and Joba Chamberlain work the eighth.
The manager, though, said he is going to stick with Soriano.
“I still believe he’s going to be very, very good for us,” he said, “and he’s going to play a huge role for us, he’s just got off to a rough start.”
And, no, Brian Cashman did not issue a press release reminding everyone that he was against the Soriano signing, but you could not have blamed him after, once again, Soriano complained this is a major adjustment going from closer to the eighth inning.
I understand all that, but here’s something Soriano should consider: He needs to forget about it being “the eighth-inning role.”
How about his role is to get outs?
Baseball has created its own eighth-inning monster, and the Yankees have made the situation worse in this case. Someone needs to tell Soriano, enough with the excuses and the complaining about the umpire missing pitches.
Soriano clearly hasn’t learned a thing from Mariano Rivera and his professional approach.
He doesn’t fit right now. You could tell by the body language of the fielders behind him. They were flat-footed, waiting for something bad to happen. The Yankees are saying all the right things to defend Soriano, but remember these are April statements.
Soriano needs to get his act together quickly.
“It’s not been easy for me,” he said. “I’m trying to figure out how I can do the same I did last year. I’m in trouble right now. I’ll take it. I’ll forget all that tonight and come back tomorrow and find out.”
The right-hander was booed three separate times in the inning by the crowd of 40,785. This was a crowd that loved the job performed by Nova, who went a career-high 6 1/3
innings. When Nova was done and Girardi came out to get him, Nova tapped each infielder on the chest to thank him for being there for him.
During the game, when a good play was made behind him, Nova clapped for his teammates. He performed on the mound and enjoyed being there. The fans appreciated every aspect of his performance and when Nova left he was cheered wildly as he skipped off the field and into the dugout.
It was an uplifting experience. Soriano could learn something from the kid.
Soriano managed to strike out Alexei Ramirez to start the eighth, but hit Carlos Quentin on the shoulder and the wheels were put in motion for his collapse.
Three years at $35 million can buy a spectacular arm, but it can’t buy the mental approach that is needed to help this team. Soriano led the AL in saves (45) last year, but that was with the Rays. That was a much different situation than pitching for the Yankees.
It’s a whole different ballgame here and until Soriano and his 7.84 ERA understand that, he will not succeed.
The eighth inning should be earned.
There’s too much at stake.