Once upon a time, there was a pitching prospect in the Yankee’s minor league system. In six different seasons, he started 68 games out of the 102 that he pitched, all of them starts after his first pro season. In those 430.1 innings, he had a 3.03 ERA, 1.025 WHIP, 7.95 K/9, 2.03 BB/9, and a 3.92 K/BB.
The Yankees got nothing but good results from this guy. He clearly had great numbers as a starter and had a lot of potential. This guy never made it as a starter, though. He started just ten games for the Bombers and the results weren’t pretty: A 5.94 ERA. A 1.90 K/BB. A 1.680 WHIP. An .852 OPS against. After those poor ten starts, he never got a chance to start for the Yankees again.
(If you didn’t get it after that paragraph, I’m talking about Mariano Rivera)
What if the Yankees had displayed a little more patience with Rivera than they did? What if they didn’t move him to the bullpen for 1996 and beyond? Given the way we look at pitchers today, I think most of us would’ve said that Rivera should’ve at least been given the chance to fail (more) as a starter. If he was coming up today, wouldn’t we at least want him to get a full season as a starter before casting him off to the bullpen? Wouldn’t we say he just needs time to develop a third pitch, like a curveball or change up?
Thankfully, for all parties involved, the move turned out for the best. Rivera has gone on to become the game’s best relief pitcher for an inconceivable number of years. He may not have gotten an extended shot at the starting rotation, but he certainly made the best of his opportunity in the bullpen. It’s funny how things turn out, isn’t it?
Matt, it shows that projecting and nurturing a player’s career is a much bigger crapshoot than fans understand. In the larger scheme it parallels what happens with all of us coming out of school. Your readers need to remember this the next time they’re ready to blow a vein over a Cashman move…. Kevin Ocala, Fl(Quote)
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I think its worth mentioning that the big knock against Rivera back in the day was that he was all-fastball (he hadn’t yet learned the cutter). People always thought he would end up in the bullpen for that reason. EJ Fagan(Quote)
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Some context is needed. Rivera started the 1995 season as the eighth or ninth starter (number 6 was Pettite, and I think Domingo Jean was 7). He got called up out of desperation – 4 of our 5 starters went down. Even so, his results weren’t very good, as he could only go once, maybe twice through a lineup before being hammered.
The team was weak that year, and barely made it into the post season as the first ever WC team. Mo was added to the bullpen mostly to fill out the roster, and because he was one of the least worst pitchers called up. The only reason he got to pitch at all in the post season was because of the extra inning games against Seattle, and then it was a reluctant choice. When he blew away some of the games greatest hitters, it opened eyes.
Even so, when it came to saving Game 5, Buck went with Black Jack to save the game, leaving Wetteland (who sucked against the M’s) and Mariano (who knew?) on the bench as Griffey Jr crossed the plate.
In the aftermath of that loss, and the general shakeup of the team, the one positive everyone remembered was Mariano dominating out of the pen (much like Joba ’07). When given the opportunity to be the 8th inning guy the following season, he seized the role and had what I think was his best, most valuable season (but that’s a rant for another post).
My point is that Mo was a gift from God (said the agnostic). His role wasn’t ordained by any Yankee plan, but by being forced into new roles by circumstances and thriving.
Conversely, Joba has been all about planning, and changes in planning, and just not ever grabbing the bull by the horns the way Mo did (but I guess that’s an unfair comparison). misterd(Quote)
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Kevin Ocala, Fl Reply:
January 18th, 2011 at 5:36 pm
I think my television is still flying after watching the end of that game. The way that Mo was blowing the M’s away made me incredulous that Buck didn’t bring him in. I think of Buck sometimes when I see some of Girardi’s stiff-necked, by the book, moves. Do managers politic as much as manage these days to keep the second-guessers at bay? I can’t say for sure, but the Torre/Zim combo seemed to be more intuitive back in the day…. Kevin Ocala, Fl(Quote)
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deadrody Reply:
January 18th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
Mo pitched 2/3 of an inning in game 5, getting the last out of the 8th and the first out of the 9th.
If anything, he should have been more willing to bring him in before Cone walked in a run with the bases loaded. deadrody(Quote)
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The biggest “what if” in this scenario would be…
“What if Buck Showalter hadn’t used Rivera in relief in the playoffs in 1995, demonstrating himself as virtually unhittable out of the pen ?”
Because to me, that is the key moment(s) in the evolution of Mariano Rivera. If that never happens, who knows what Rivera’s role is going into 1996. deadrody(Quote)
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What if … stat geek groupthink ever backed off the numbers a bit, and realized that relievers … have to get their bodies and arms tuned up for every appearance 40, 50, 60 games out of 162? … have to give their best each time, often entering under the pressure of men on base, of momentum turned against? Maybe then they would lighten up on this harang that a starter is so much more valuable than a reliever, as obvious as 200 to 60 innings pitched.
Ask a starter how valuable a good reliever is. smurfy(Quote)
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