(Yes I know my title is incredibly cliched)
So we’ve gotten word that Alfredo Aceves suffered a set back while throwing on flat ground and will see a doctor soon. If the prognosis isn’t good and Aceves must be sent do the 60-day DL, there may be a bit of a strain put on the Yankee bullpen.
As it is now, the Yankees have three guys that can give multiple innings with ease: Chan Ho Park (CHoP), Sergio Mitre, and the recently re-signed Chad Gaudin. If Aceves has to be out for a long time, there needs to be improvement from Park, steadiness from Mitre, and progression from Gaudin.
Starting with Park, he’s been downright unimpressive in his brief time with the Yankees. He’s sporting an ERA over 7, an FIP pushing 9, and an xFIP just over 5. The results, aside from one game, have been ugly. Park isn’t making a ton of money this season and his salary will be easy to eat if the Yankees become dissatisfied with him. Ivan Nova had a decent cup of coffee earlier this season and is pitching well in AAA so if CHoP continues to struggle, look for Nova to be moved up and Park to be let go.
Sergio Mitre has impressed me this year, but I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop. His 2.86 ERA is obviously nice and shiny, but the 4.88 FIP and 4.54 xFIP are scaring me a bit. I don’t think he’ll keep up a H/9 of 6.14 and his .193 (!!) BABIP is just ridiculous. His career BABIP is .325 so if the correction comes, it’s going to come hard. The Serg is also stranding 79.8% of the runners that have reached compared to a career average around 66% and a league average around 70%. I’m not going to root for Mitre to regress, but I won’t be surprised if that does happen.
As I mentioned in my post from earlier today, I’m looking forward to Chad Gaudin coming back. I doubt he’s going to pitch as poorly as his ERA suggests and, like Park, he’s cheap and easy to let go if he falls on his face again. It’s unlikely he does so, though, considering his 3.92 xFIP, 10.38 K/9, and 4.00 K/BB. Of these three non-Ace-long/swingman options, I’ve got the most faith in Gaudin because he’s the youngest and his peripherals–minus the 2.60 HR/9–suggest a positive correction rather than a negative correction (Mitre) or stagnation (CHoP).
The best option, Aceves himself, is one that the Yankees may be without for some time. Hopefully, Ace gets a clean bill of health and can return to vulturing wins in short time.
I’m much more of a believer in Park than you are. He’s only had six appearances, three pre-injury and three post injury. I think its just a matter of him getting into a groove after more regular work. Robertson seems to be pitching better lately. Mitre has done everything we could ask. I like Aceves but who is 5, 6 and 7 out of the bullpen is a minor concern. If and when the starting pitching gets on a roll like its capable of, its going to be hard to find steady work for all of those guys. bg90027(Quote)
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Reports were floating around today that Ace got an epidural, so it looks like the Yanks are going to try to rehab him for this year and let him get surgery in the off season. IIRC, Randy Johnson pitched with a ruptured disc in his back for most of his 2nd season with the Yanks, got his back operated on in the off season and was ready to go for Opening Day the next year, though he did miss some ST.
Looks like Ace will go a similar route, and we’ll just have to see how effectively he can pitch with this injury. Steve S.(Quote)
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Another stellar outing by Park tonight 0.1 ip, 2 er. He has just been awful. It’s almost June 1st. He doesn’t have long to get it together and get on “a roll” before he gets released.
I didn’t like the signing of Park from the beginning. I’d much rather go with somebody homegrown (as opposed to on the downhill side of his career) with more upside, like Nova. Or Melancon — if he could finally do for the MLB team what he’s done at every level in the minors, it would be huge. Jon G(Quote)
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