WHY 2 LEFTIES IN THE YANKEES' PEN IS SMART

I have always been a fan of 2 lefties in the Yankees bullpen. That's just the way I am. Read THE EXTRA LEFTY THE YANKEES NEVER HAD from back in August 2011.

I’ve never been terribly excited about Boone Logan, but don’t twist my words, I’m sure personally he’s a real nice guy. For the most part, he does his job, but I almost feel like more times than not, he doesn’t. We here at Bleeding Yankee Blue want an extra lefty in the pen. As far as I can see, it can’t hurt. For me personally, it’s not only smart, but think about it this way…it gives Joe Girardi a few more options, and probably gives him more tools to tinker with in the pen, more match ups between hitter to pitcher in the late innings. Whatever the case, if a lefty is needed in a late inning an Logan’s already in the showers, why not think about it?

We saw some terrific competition between Cesar Cabral and Clay Rapada this spring and it was close to coming down to the wire. Unfortunately for Cabral, he literally broke his elbow, read HERE. What a tough break, no pun intended, but clearly another example of guys really wanting to make this Yankees team. Maybe he pushed himself alittle too much, maybe he pulled a Michael Pineda (read HERE) and now look what’s happened.

That leaves us with Clay Rapada, a guy I’ve always admired, not only a lefty, but a sweet windup that will freeze any batter in the box. As a kid playing high school ball, there was a kid from a neighboring today that threw similarly to Clay Rapada. My whole team couldn’t touch him because we couldn’t follow when the ball was coming out of his hand and to be honest, it was distracting. 1 kid could though so I asked him “How do you hit him?” He said simply, “If you watch the windup you get wrapped up. The goal is to hit the ball, wait for it to come in the zone.” He was right and I figured I cracked the code, and the next time I got up, I was convinced I would crush it. I didn’t, in fact, it was another nightmare at bat. Maybe that’s why I appreciate Rapada so much. Yes, he has the stuff, but I love that delivery. Rapada’s no non-sense and a gamer. I love what I see and I really hope Girardi gives him a shot as we are literally in the last few days of Spring Training.

So Joe, read this post, because I know you read Bleeding Yankee Blue….OK, so I'm kidding, but come on... give Rapada a shot, won't you?

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