Thursday, May 21, 2009

Are things turning around for the Yankees bullpen?

With Brian Bruney back in action the Yankees bullpen got a huge boost this week, but even prior to his return the Yankees pen started to turn things around. Over their last ten games the Yanks' bullpen is 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA in the last 10 games. Jose Veras is still awful and can't throw a strike, but with the rest of the mix they have now the Yankees bullpen is slowly rounding into form. Bruney is back, Alfredo Aceves is becoming a weapon, Phil Coke and Jonathan Albaladejo are improving, and even Brett Tomko has been solid.

Do you think the bullpen have turned a corner or do you think they will go back to blowing games regularly?


(Yes, I know I probably just jinxed them.)

10 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Nah, I don't think you jiinxed them, they can be a solid bullpen. Keyword being "can be" and I would love for hughes to go to the pen too so we have another decent option out there. I have always liked out of the pen, but 200 innings of joba is more than 70+ so , I have accepted it. Like I said, they can be a solid bullpen not great though, which does scare me somewhat.

Anonymous said...

i hope to see them get in tight games for a change and see what guys really have the "stuff". I trust Albaladejo the least. I think it would do Hughes good to work out of the pen as well - and learn from the current starters

Anonymous said...

I think Aceves and Coke are solid, and both should be the go to 6th/7th inning guys.

Bruney has the 8th so long as he can stay healthy, Coke could steal the 8th from him if he goes down again.

Mo is Mo, but I reckon its either this year or next and then he will hang it up. Could Bruney be the next closer?

Tomko should stay there for long relief and spot starts. It really helps to have a veteran like him amoungst the young guys.

Albaladejo needs to get more consistent before I would trust him with anything but a big lead or big deficit.

Vera's should be traded the moment he starts pitching even halfway decent.

Marte, once he gets back will sadly, it seems, be the most expensive left handed specialist in baseball.

All this talk of Phil Hughes going to the pen has made me think hard about it. What if they changed course for him and made him into the next closer? Like boston did with Papelbon? He could be dominant in that roll.

Scotty B said...

I don't know if they turned a corner or not I just think with the SP going much further into games now they aren't so over worked. I feel that any bullpen no matter how good it may be will struggle when they have to come in, in the 5th inning every game. Now they have to pitch 2 maybe 3 innings (which is how it should be) and they are able to handle that.

Kevin said...

Scotty i think you said it perfectly...if you're coming in the game in the 5th inning each game you are going to lose and get crappy relief work...but with good starts you get good results...does this mean they are going to be great the rest of the year i doubt it they will have high points and low points..if we keep scoring 5-8 runs a game its not really going to matter..Go Yanks!!

Anonymous said...

They did turn a corner until you posted this post.

Anonymous said...

return of Bruney makes this a solid bullpen. I think Boston's is overrated with the exception of Papelbon.

James Miller said...

i like what I see, but i think we should slow down. They are still a long way away from earning my trust.

Greg Cohen said...

Scotty, you're right, the starters going deeper into games has helped a lot.

Anonymous said...

Those stats look impressive but they've been accumulated mostly cleaning up their own messes. Ramirez bailed out by Veras, who gets bailed out by Albaladejo, who gets bailed out by Tomko, who gets bailed out by Coke, who gets bailed out by Rivera...

Other than Mo and Bruney and maybe Aceves there is no one there I trust to get out of a big spot consistently.