It has been widely assumed that the Yankees would take either Sergio Mitre or Chad Gaudin as their long man to open the season, but Joe Girardi said this afternoon that he's still considering taking a second lefty in the pen instead of a long reliever.While the fifth starter race is a big deal, there are still other areas of the Yankees roster that haven't been ironed out yet. One of, and maybe the only area I'm talking about is the last spot in that bullpen.
That means that Boone Logan or Royce Ring still have a shot at making the Opening Day roster, something I figured was the longest of long shots.
With CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte and Javier Vazquez filling the top four spots in the rotation, Girardi may not think he needs a traditional long reliever. Even when Phil Hughes pitches, the Yankees have Alfredo Aceves and Chan Ho Park in the bullpen, giving them a pair of pitchers that can go 2-3 innings if necessary.
"With our four experienced starters, you expect some distance out of these guys every day," Girardi said. "In the back of your mind, though, you always have to have that just in case, because you can really fry a bullpen if you don’t."
If it were up to me I'd go with the second lefty. For this team, with this rotation, I think having a second lefty in the pen can be more useful than a tradition long man. Of course that second lefty will have to be able to get lefties out consistently, but that kinda goes without saying, doesn't it?
Here's how the two finalists--Boone Logan and Royce Ring--have done this spring:
- Logan: 0-1, 2.57 ERA, 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
- Ring: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
