Girardi's Faith in Farsnworth Scares Me

We all watched last night as Girardi sent Kyle Farnsworth out for a second inning of work - something Joe Torre never did at all last year, and hadn't done since the middle of 2006 - and we all saw the results - 2 runs on 3 hits in the inning, including a 440 foot blast off the bat of John Buck. Hopefully it doesn't take Giradi long to realize that this guy cannot pitch more than one inning.

Then there's this from Joel Sherman's blog today:
Joba Chamberlain

The other day I was in Joe Girardi’s office chatting with him about the decision this year on what to do with Joba Chamberlain: Keep him in relief or move him into the rotation. I remarked that this choice would become easier if Ross Ohlendorf and/or Brian Bruney proved so capable as set-up man that the Yankee manager would feel comfortable moving one or both into the eighth inning, so that Chamberlain could be moved to the rotation with less angst. “Yeah, I agree,” Girardi said. “But don’t forget Kyle Farnsworth. I still believe that Farnsworth is going to help us a lot.”

Girardi played with Farnsworth with the Cubs, and since he was named manager he has indicated a belief that he could reach the frustrating Farnsworth and get him to use his very good stuff to greater effectiveness. The innuendo in all of this was that Joe Torre had given up on Farnsworth and that Farnsworth had lost his confidence and effectiveness. But Joe Torre had lost his confidence in Farnsworth for a very good reason – it is all but impossible to be confident in Farnsworth, who endured another poor outing and a loss Wednesday night. Girardi just might learn the hard way what Torre learned

As Sherman says, Torre lost confidence in Farnsworth for a good reason - he stunk. One thing I've learned after watching this guy for several years now is that he's good in low-pressure spots and only for an inning at a time.

He's also a guy who pitches better when he's well rested. Last season his ERA with three days rest was 2.00, with two days rest it was 2.70, but as his amount of rest decreased his ERA increased. With one day of rest his ERA was 5.47, and with no days rest it was 6.75.

If Girardi is as smart as everyone thinks he is, he would stop trying to push Farnsworth that "extra mile," because it's only going to hurt the Yankees. Use him the right way, or don't use him at all, personally I'd prefer the latter.