Our bullpen this year.

[cmaff051]

Really, it has been terrific. It has been our best bullpen in quite a few years. It is probably better than the 2004 bullpen with Quantrill and Flash Gordon, but you'd probably have to go back to the Stanton-Nelson years to find a bullpen that was this deep and good.

We have always had Mo, but we haven't always had consistent middle relief. This year we have, and the bullpen is peaking at just the right time.

And one more important thing to add: No more Joe Torre! He killed our bullpen as we said for many years, and now that Girardi is the skipper, we get to appreciate how a manager should manage the bullpen. He has managed it excellently and managed to not burn anybody out.' No reliever will come even close to 80-100 innings like Gordon, Quantrill and Proctor did.

Our bullpen has been our saving grace really, especially with our underperforming starting pitching (except if your name is Mike Mussina).

[jeff1624]

I Think our starting pitching has been performing better than anyone could have imagined.

Maby people doubted Joba yet has an era of around 2.50 as a starter. Pettitte has pitched exactly like I imagined he would and ponson has been a nice suprise so far.

As for the bullpen, yes it has been excellent. we're like 47-1 when winning after the 6th inning.

[VinnyTheMick]

The one thing I hate is how those at ESPN still talk about our bullpen as one of our "bigger weaknesses". Tools like Keith Law who works for Scouts Inc you would think would actually do the research & know just how effective the pen has been. Instead he spents 5 minutes yesterday saying that the Red Sox bullpen is a big strength for them & our bullpen is a liability.

Jackass

btw- the best part about our pen? Outside of Mo, Farns & LaTroy all of our guys are cost controlled for the next few seasons & that number will only increase when guys like Sanchez eventually move into the pen.

[nykgeneralmanager]

Michael Kay had an amazing stat last night which I'm sure most of you heard. The Yankees' bullpen leads the league in innings pitched, but ZERO of our relievers are in the top 15 in appearances. Quite a difference from Torre who had three guys in the top five of innings/appearances out of the pen every season. These guys all have their roles and they know what it is, and everybody is just doing their job beautifully. Edwar has turned into a near shutdown reliever but he still has those flyball tendencies which can hurt him at times.

[VinnyTheMick]

Ramirez (2-0, 2.48 ERA, 43 strikeouts) has allowed one hit in his past 11 1/3 innings --- all scoreless, with two walks and 16 strikeouts -- over nine games. He's retired 32 of the last 36 batters he's faced.

"Rivera told me that the most important thing is to have confidence in myself and always be positive," Ramirez said, "and then I'll always come out winning. I've been doing that, and now the team and the coaches also have confidence in me."

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/art ... p&c_id=nyy

[Pharmcat]

yea for once, cash got the pen right

[TKF]

I agree the pen has been a pleasant suprise to some degree, but the difference with our pen than previous years are the power arms we have... Veras, farns and rivera bring nothing but gas, plus their control has been good. Ramirez has been very crafty also....

[HCYanks]

Honestly, it was pretty predictable that this would happen eventually. Quality relief prospects was one of the biggest strengths of the farm system going into the year, and it's panned out into some nice work out off the bullpen. On top of what's already there, Bruney will be back soon and there's still more talent waiting to get the call. Hopefully Hawkins is cut loose to make space.

[nykgeneralmanager]

I think there is one guy that isn't receiving the credit that he should, and that is Dave Eiland. There are a number of guys who have overachieved this year (not just in the pen, but the rotation as well) and I think there may be a reason for that rather than it just being a coincidence.

Kyle Farnsworth is obviously having his best season as a Yankee, and has only had a few better seasons in his entire career. In the past month, he allowed ZERO hits and obviously zero runs.

Jose Veras had a career ERA of 5 before this season began, this season his ERA is 3. His BB/9 rate was well over 5 before this season, yet this season he has lowered it to 3.6. Sure it can just be a relatively inexperienced pitcher finding himself, but when it happens to 8 guys at once it makes you wonder.

Edwar Ramirez always had a lot of potential in our minds, but his ERA was over 8 last year (in 21 innings he allowed 24 hits, 14 BB, and 31 Ks and most importantly 6 homers). Suddenly this season he has all-star numbers not even a year later, and in 36.1 innings has allowed 21 hits, 14 walks, 43 Ks and just 3 homers. So in comparison to last season, he has already thrown 12 more innings but with 3 less hits, just as many walks, 12 more Ks, and allowed HALF as many home runs.

Mariano Rivera is another one. I know that Mo is Mo and greatness is expected, but lets be honest he did BEGIN to show signs of some decline last season to the point where some people were upset that we gave him the contract that we did. Now, he is in the middle of a legendary season worthy of cy young consideration. 44.1 innings, 26 hits, 4 walks, 53 Ks. Are you kidding me? Its his best season ever, which says a lot, and he is 38 years old.

Like I said, it isn't just the relievers.

How about Moose? He was done last season in everybody's mind, and rightfully so. Now, he is having his best year since 2003.

Joba has to be looked at as well. We all know how incredibly talented he is and knew he had an incredibly high ceiling, but trust me...making the transition from reliever to starter mid-season is no easy task. The guy who worked with him every single day in bullpen sessions and what not is Eiland, and he deserves a lot of credit for having Joba as prepared as he has been from the beginning of the transition. It went more smoothly that we could've done in mlb2k8, and I think that has to be recognized.

Pettitte is another guy, having his second best season since 2002. His numbers aren't mind boggling, but they are an improvement over what he has done. We weren't sure what to expect after the crazy offseason he went through, but he is pitching better than we could've hoped for sure.

Sure, there were also some failures (Rasner, Hughes, Kennedy). But to be fair, neither Hughes or Kennedy has a large enough sample size to be called a complete failure as both fell to injury pretty early in the season.

After all the years of dying to get rid of Mel and then Guidry, it looks like we finally found our pitching coach. It is understandable that Girardi would get the bulk of the credit as he is the new manager, but Eiland deserves a lot of attention and credit as well for the work he has done everyone ranging from veterans to rookies to relievers to starters.

[Pharmcat]

eiland rocks

hopefully he can Pavano #2 turn the corner

[Ready II Ball]

ramirez has been nasssty lately