Over the last two nights, Brian Bruney has entered in the 8th inning with the Yankees leading by two runs to an overwhelming chorus of groans from Yankees fans. On Wednesday night, he notched just one out before allowing a home run to Nolan Reimold. Last night, he tossed a perfect 8th before walking the only batter he faced in the 9th, at which point Damaso Marte entered and finished the game. Many Yankees fans questioned Joe Girardi’s continued use of Bruney in big spots, noting that it did not give the Yankees their best chance to win each individual game. However, it seems clear that Joe Girardi knows exactly what to do with a 7.5 game lead, and his usage of Bruney makes perfect sense.
At this point, winning the individual game is just one of two parallel goals. The Yankees need to discover exactly who they can trust in big spots in postseason games, as well as rest some older players and have them fresh for the playoffs. With a large lead in the division and an insurmountable lead over any possible wild card competition, the manager has the luxury of putting players in some positions that you may not want them in during a must-win game. This allows Girardi to determine whether he can count on those players to get important outs in pressure filled situations during October. By throwing guys like Bruney, Robertson, and Marte into the fire, Joe can figure out who he might want on the postseason roster, and who he would bring in with two on and two out in the 6th inning of a 1-run ALDS game.
Thus far, it is evident that Rivera, Hughes, Aceves, Coke, and Robertson are going to make the postseason roster. Damaso Marte has only tossed 4.1 innings since returning, but his stellar performance (5 K’s, 1BB, 0H, 0R) and status as a second lefty make him a likely addition to the roster as well. Assuming the Yankees carry 11 pitchers, that last spot will come down to Sergio Mitre, Chad Gaudin, possibly Mark Melancon, and Bruney. These last few weeks are perfectly suited for ferreting out the best option among these players and gauging just how trustworthy guys like Marte, Coke, and Robertson are. So far, Girardi has done a credible job of using the Yankees’ lead wisely. It should result in the Yankees carrying their best possible mix into October.
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Good thinking. It still physically hurts to see Bruney come in like that.
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The other Chris H Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
I think it’s just another really smart move from Bruney, if he can get Bruney to the confidence level he was at early in the season when he was the set up man before his elbow injury then he could be a huge key down the stretch.
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I agree with the article. I don’t think Phil Coke is certain to be on the playoff roster. I would agree that it is likely he’ll be on the roster, but not more likely than Robertson.
Bruney is doing nothing to make me believe he’ll be in the playoffs.
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
The thing is, who takes Bruney’s place? You cant just give it to someone just to not give it to Bruney. He is also a streaky pitcher- if he gets hot, he could be a huge asset.
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The other Chris H Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
When Bruney is on he can strike out anyone a great 95+ fastball with a decent slider and an OK curveball make him dangerous out of the pen, he just has to get his control down.
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scott l Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Would rather have Gaudin to be honest and his very solid K/9 rate against right handed batters.
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The other Chris H Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
When they are right Bruney is the much better pitcher between the two… When Bruney is erratic Gaudin could be better but when Brian has hit health and confidence he can K both righties and lefties and be shut down good.
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Well you never like to lose (and we still can come back) but this is a game that really allows you to get a look at the young arms you have and what they can do now and in the future… so far tonight Melancon looked pretty good (dominate in his first inning) but he struggled some in his second inning of work when got into a bases loaded 2 out situation and allowed one run, he really lost all his control. Albaladejo did well and showed some good velocity even with the two black eyes and now Michael Dunn is making his ML debut for the Yankees and his velocity looks real good for a lefty (95 MPH consistently) his control looked a little erratic (throwing 10 straight balls at one point and loading the bases with walks) but that is to be expected from a young guy and especially in his Yankee debut. I don’t know what he will bring to the table this year because he is really out of sync control wise but if he gets his control down then he could really develop into a very good weapon in the future. He leaves in the 7th with 2 outs and the bases loaded on walks so Edwar Ramirez can come in and try to salvage a major league career.
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I was going to make the same poi9nt about tonight’s game-he used exactly who he should have in my opinion.
I also agree about Bruney-we really need to know if he can be the guy he’s been in stretches in the past couple years. If he can, that’s a pretty large addition to the pen. If not, we’ve found out (unlike recent years when some guys got buried in June and never resurfaced.)
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The other Chris H Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Bruney is really a wild card in all of this he has great raw stuff and can over power a hitter but at times he looks like Jose Veras on the mound and that just is not good, I wonder what he is doing in is mechanics to make him so much more wild than the beginning of the season.
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