The bullpen came up with the goods in the last month – but let’s face it they had to. The starters were prone to only delivering 4 or 5 innings and with exception of Mussina and Aceves, the rotation was a mess.

 

 

New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – September

Name                  GP   IP  H RA ER BB SO W L Sv    ERA   OBA

Bruney, Brian         10 10.0  3  0  0  2 12 2 0  0   0.00  .091

Robertson, David       4  4.2  2  0  0  3  7 1 0  0   0.00  .125

Coke, Phil            12 14.2  8  1  1  2 14 1 0  0   0.61  .160

Rivera, Mariano        9  9.0  4  1  1  0  7 1 0  7   1.00  .125

Marte, Damaso          9  6.2  4  1  1  3  7 1 0  0   1.35  .167

Hughes, Phil           2 12.0  9  3  3  2 10 0 0  0   2.25  .209

Chamberlain, Joba     10 11.1 11  3  3  3 14 0 0  0   2.38  .250

Aceves, Alfredo        5 28.0 25  8  8 10 13 1 0  0   2.57  .240

Mussina, Mike          6 34.0 37 12 12  8 35 4 2  0   3.18  .282

Veras, Jose           10  9.0 10  4  4  7 11 1 1  0   4.00  .286

Sanchez, Humberto      2  2.0  1  1  1  2  1 0 0  0   4.50  .167

Pettitte, Andy         4 22.2 29 14 12  6 21 1 3  0   4.76  .302

Ponson, Sidney         5 19.1 24 15 14  6  9 1 0  0   6.52  .296

Pavano, Carl           5 23.1 31 19 18  8  9 2 2  0   6.94  .326

Britton, Chris         6  7.1 11  6  6  6  3 0 0  0   7.36  .367

Ramirez, Edwar         6  5.1  8  5  5  5  6 1 0  0   8.44  .364

Giese, Dan             5  5.0 11  8  6  1  4 0 0  0  10.80  .423

Rasner, Darrell        4  5.1  7  7  7  6  3 0 1  0  11.81  .304

 

Pluses

 

Brian Bruney. Bruney was a treasure this season whenever he was fit. A little lost weight and a little more consistency has led a good member of the bullpen to being a great member of the bullpen. His .091 OBA in September says it all.

 

Phil Coke. Coke had to eventually give up a run but it was only 1. There are signs that opposition were getting a little more used to him but here’s hoping he can roll into 2009 at the same level.

 

Mariano Rivera. Rivera got the last out at the old Yankee Stadium on a night which will live in the memory for a long, long time. He has had an excellent season and September was more of the same.

 

Minuses

 

Carl Pavano. Pavano was very lucky in his starts to pull off 4 wins. I don’t think there was one, he really deserved but he got lots of run support. There have been some disastrous signings of starting pitchers over the last 20 years – Andy Hawkins and Tim Leary come to mind – and Pavano is right up there with the worst.

 

Darrell Rasner. September finally saw him bounced out of the starting rotation as he achieved a season high 11.81 ERA on the month. Part of me thinks that a lot of this is down to a coaching staff who left him to wilt until it was too late. Most of me knows he won’t be in pinstripes in April.

 

Chris Britton. Britton was finally reduced to ninth innings in games we were winning by a considerable margin and he still struggled then. .367 OBA. He allowed too many hits and walked too many.

 

Surprises

 

Dan Giese. Giese did well in relief. Giese did well as a starter. Giese came back from injury well. And then in September it all fell apart. 10.80 ERA and leading the team in OBA on the month.

 

Damaso Marte. We finally found the right role for Mr. Marte who had struggled to find consistency since arriving from the Pirates. A good month for him and part of a package with Bruney, Chamberlain and Rivera which worked very well indeed on a number of occasions.

 

Humberto Sanchez. Sanchez’s arrival in the Bronx has been talked about for two or three years. Injuries got in the way on a number of occasions. He finally made it in the final week of the season and was …….ordinary.