It's a question everyone will be asking after Marco Scutaro on Sunday and Alex Cora tonight.
So far this year, Mariano is 0-for-2 in save opportunities. I don't know what's the most surprising: That on April 20, Mo has 0 saves; that he has 2 blown saves; or that he has just two save opportunities.So... what's wrong with Mariano?
The little angel on one shoulder says there's nothing wrong. According to John Flaherty, who I think is doing an excellent job as the Yankees color man on YES, Mo's velocity is there, but his location is off. Flaherty would know, don't you think? It's early in the year, he hasn't been used much at all -- just six times in the Yankees' first 15 games, and not since Sunday -- so it's to be expected. By next month, he'll be the same ol' Mo.
But the little devil on the other shoulder -- who I'm sure wears a hideous green jersey -- says it's the beginning of the end. Mariano is 37 years old and not a big guy (he's listed at 185 pounds, which I'm assuming means he was weighed while standing on a case of Bigelow Green Tea). Maybe what we thought was a positive sign in spring training -- Mo working on a changeup -- was actually a bad omen, a sign that Rivera knew the cutter wasn't going to be enough anymore.
Well, screw you, little devil! There's nothing wrong with Mariano. It's just Mo being Mo.
On April 26 of last year, Rivera had 2 losses, 1 blown save and a 4.91 ERA. He finished the year with just 5 losses, 3 blown saves and a 1.80 ERA.
And the year before that, on April 13, 2005, he had 1 loss, 2 blown saves and, again, a 4.91 ERA. He'd also given up 4 walks against just 4 Ks in 9.0 IP. He finished that year with just 4 losses, 4 blown saves and a 1.38 ERA, and a ridiculous 80 Ks to 18 BB in 78.1 IP.
So don't worry about Mariano -- unless you have him in a rotisserie league that I am also in, in which case, stick a fork in him. But before you release him, I'll take him off your hands for Ruddy Lugo. I'd hate to see you give up Mo for nothing, and what the heck, he can have one last go-round on my team. Strictly for sentimental reasons, of course.
2 comments:
I don't know about you, but I feel like Joe Torre lost that game with some of his decision making. Every spring Joe Torre says this will be the year he stops using Mariano for more than 3 outs at the end of games. I always applaud this decision, hoping to save Mariano's arm for late in the year. Every year Joe abandons this plan far too early.
First mistake by Torre, why was an underused Rivera in the game for 5 outs in cold weather in April? His location was off? No kidding. We have Kyle Farnsorth and his 100+ mph fastball. Why bring in Vizcaino. It would have been a great character building appearance for Farnsworth. I consider that mistake 1. 2nd mistake by Torre, with two on, why isn't Mr Defense (Mientkiwiecz) guarding the line against an extra base hit? If he is, only 1 run scores when Coco grounds out to him and there is a small possibility for a double play to get out of the inning. 3rd mistake was playing the infield in after the triple. The great manager Earl Weaver once said, "When you play the infield in you turn a .250 hitter into a .400 hitter." What happened? A little looping bloop that Jeter would have caught easily had the infield been positioned normally drops to score Crisp. 3 mistakes that compounded each other as the 8th progressed to guarantee a Yankee loss. Very disappointing performance from our manager.
Luckily, it is only April. Maybe managers need to shake the rust off, just like relievers do.
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