SHOULD DAVID AARDSMA BE THE NEXT MARIANO?

If you happened to miss it, read Phil Hughes’ case as a candidate to succeed Mariano Rivera as closer in POSSIBLE HEIR APPARENT TO MARIANO: PHIL HUGHES.About a month ago the Yankees made an interesting move by signing former Seattle Mariners’ closer David Aardsma to a guaranteed major league contract knowing he’d miss about half the season, give or take, due to recovering from Tommy John surgery. They did, however, add a club-option for the second year of a deal which basically pays Aardsma peanuts. Personally, I thought it was a no-lose move considering the expectations for this guy are pretty slim and I’m sure a lot of people have forgotten about him already. But the guy has experience as a closer, and has done a fine job of closing out games in the past, so we have to throw him into the pile of possible heir apparents to Mariano Rivera.

David Aardsma is a guy who relies on a fastball-splitter-slider combo to get guys out. His fastball is in the 94 mph range and he uses it a lot (75% in 2010, 87% in 2009), while using his splitter and slider about 11% of the time each of his previous two seasons after using both pitches just about 6% the year before. So really, the guy has three legit pitches to go through, which is a plus. Read more about Aardsma from Fangraphs HERE.In 2009 and 2010 when Aardsma was closing games out for the Seattle Mariners he pitched to a 2.90 ERA in 126 games while compiling 69 saves and posting 9.6 K/9, 4.4 BB/9, 0.7 HR/9, and 6.1 H/9 rates. The walks are a concern, and the problem with Tommy John surgery is that it takes most pitchers a lot of time to refine their control and command, though his fastball velocity could increase in the process. With that in mind, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if both of walk and strike out rates increase by at least a hair in the beginning before he gets back to his normal level.

The good thing with Aardsma, as noted, is that he has experience as a closer. Something David Robertson, Phil Hughes, and Joba Chamberlain don’t have. I don’t know how much Girardi will use this fact in determining who will succeed Rivera, but I’m certain it’s something that’s in the back of his mind. I like Aardsma, and I was a fan of the signing. A guy with veteran experience who has a live arm and can rack up the strikeouts is a guy that I’ll quickly grow fond of. At this point I’d say it’s pretty unlikely, not impossible by any means, that he gets the closers job after Rivera retires because we don’t know how he’ll do coming off Tommy John surgery. Tommy John surgery has a very good success rate, but not a perfect one, so anything can happen. I’m rooting for this guy and I really believe he should at least be thought of as to who will succeed Mo.




--Jesse Schindler, BYB Lead Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter @SchindlerJesse



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