This year the 8th just isn't his thing, it really hasn't been since 2006, when he was actually decent. But since last year he's been absolutely awful, and it's time to give somebody else a shot.
This season Farnsworth hitters have hit .353 off him in the 8th inning. Last year opponents hit .299 against him in the 8th, by far his worst BAA in any inning. All this tells me is the pressure is getting to him in the 8th, let the guy be effective and pitch a less pressure packing inning, like the 6th or 7th, instead of forcing him to be the setup man.
Who to replace him? Why not give Edwar Ramirez a shot? For his brief career Edwar has only allowed opponents to hit .213 off him in the 8th inning. This year they're just hitting .154 against him in the 8th.
It would also be worth giving a guy like Chris Britton a shot, in his career he's held opponents to a .135 batting average in the 8th. And in late & close situations he's held batters to a .200 batting average. But we all know that for some reason Yankees managers hate Chris Britton and won't give him a chance.
None of this means either of these two will be great setup men, but it's certainly worth at least seeing if they can do the job.
Eventually the Yankees will call up guys like J.B. Cox and Mark Melancon, and hopefully one of them will be able to do the job, but until then why continue to lose games with Kyle Farnsworth on the mound? Give somebody else a chance.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
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8 Comments:
I agree with giving someone else a chance. Ive never been a Kyle Farnsworth-less fan. But comparing 8th inning ERA's silly. Sure you can argue the "pressure" point but how many times have those better 8th inning ERA pitchers pitched the 8th in games where the Yanks had a lead large enough to allow for error or were getting blown out and/or losing anyway? No the 8th inning ERA stat is about as useful as the career ERA vs any particular team stat.
The statement that is always said following "Well Wang has an 6.74 ERA vs Team X"...is "But that team was a different team back then." See...useless stat. Same goes for BAA for any player vs a team. "Bobby Abreu bats .402 against team X.".....yeah, that was before they got some pitchers. Again, stupid stat. 8th inning stat is pointless. Whats the overall ERA for a pitcher vs a particular person? Overall? For the year vs a team? That makes far more sense.
Farnsworth stinks. Another Cashman pitching mistake.
I disagree bostowned,
Pressure is a huge part of pitching, it's a huge part of baseball. Look at Hughes and Kennedy. Last year they were no the "main event" and were both very successful. This year they had all the focus, and obviously the pressure got to both of them.
It's the same reason certain people can close and others can't. Some can handle the pressure, others cannot.
The 8th inning is generally a more pressure packed inning than the 6th or 7th, so if a pitcher pitches better - over the long term - in less pressure innings, it's a good sign they can't handle it.
We also have our own eyes to tell us how bad Farnsworth has been in 8th inning spots. His stats just back up what we've seen for ourselves.
Clutch stats like "close and late," as well as many others, also help show if a pitcher can handle high-pressure spots. And I included some of those stats as well.
Well Edwar sure looked like shit tonight. Ugh.
I'm afraid that this season is starting to look bleak and I do not see any light at the end of the tunnel.
This is a .500 team.
Unless they find some bullpen help you're right.
Great points...the Yankees really have fantastic young arms that need to fortify the pen...drop Farnsworth and Hawkins, bring up some kids and lets go...
Thanks Angel,
I also completely overlooked Jose Veras as an option, and he looks like the guy who's got the job (for now). If he can continue to throw strikes I think he can be a very good setup man.
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