WHY THERE'S A CLOUDY FUTURE FOR FREDDY

I wanted to be more creative with a title.  I wanted to give you something that wouldn't sound so obvious...yet, something that would suggest Freddy Garcia has turned into a dud...but I can't. I'm stating the obvious...Yankee fans, we have a pitching problem and Freddy is the core of it.

When the Yankees worked out in the spring, pitchers were given an opportunity to compete for a starting role.  Clearly, guys compete for those spots and I said back then, that with a healthy Michael Pineda, there isn't a spot for Freddy Garcia.  Then Pineda got hurt and Garcia was then named the Yankees 5th starter.  Technically it was by default.  At that point, Andy Pettitte wasn't ready and Pineda hit the DL.  So yeah, when it was time to name starters, "The Chief" was available, but let's face facts, he wasn't doing anything outstanding in the Spring, not enough at least to earn him a spot on his own.  He needed help and Pineda obliged.  But now we run into another issue... just what will happen next for the Yankees and Freddy Garcia?

Earlier last week the Yankees discussed possibly skipping Garcia in the rotation, read HERE. It made sense at the time because if he missed a start, maybe he'd clear his head a bit and maybe there would be an improvement the next outing, or, maybe not.  The truth is, the Yankees considered it to maybe help kick start some reprogramming into this guy.  Then, they decided against it and yesterday he pitched like crap...again: 1.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R and 3 K and 2 BB.  

So what to do? Clearly you need to skip Freddy in the rotation.  Sure, you can have confidence and believe that a starter is in a rut and he needs to work out of it,  but if they can't pitch into the 3rd inning as a starter for the New York Yankees, sooner or later, you need to cut bait.   I have suggested for about 2 weeks now that I would not be opposed to giving David Phelps a shot.  Why? Well, because he's handled everything that's come his way so far out of the pen, and while starting is different, you really don't have much else.  To be honest, I believe long man Phelps can handle it.  And clearly Joe Girardi reads Bleeding Yankee Blue and agrees.  Here is a quote from Girardi: "Any time you have a long man, he's a candidate to be a starter...You're long man is someone who is a sixth starter all the time in the bullpen."

So, will the Yankees skip Garcia the next time around? Will they give David Phelps a shot? Stay tuned, it's getting interesting in Yankeeland, isn't it?

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