The best starter to dominate in a reliever role in recent Yankee history that I can remember was Mike Mussina against the Boston Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS. 3 scoreless innings of pure dominance... and the Yankees won that game.
After that? Plenty have done it... none have dazzled quite as great.
Why? Well, because it's not that easy. There's a mindset involved with starting pitchers and it's the same as for a reliever much like when a closer comes in to a tie game. It's hard... you feel differently, you pitch alittle differently. The pressure is different... it's just the way it is. You can sit in your stadium seat or on your couch and scream at these guys like "Come on! This is what you work toward! You need to crush the competition!" It's not as easy as turning it on and dominating. It's a mindset. Believe me.
Andrew Heaney is a 5th starter on a Yankee pitching rotation that has struggled most of the year. He laid an egg today and I would suggest he did because he was put in a spot wearing the most storied franchise's uniform in front of judgy group of Yankee fans that was expecting automatic dominance against a shitty Orioles team. But you know just as well as I do that Heaney is not a reliever, and the Orioles are not shitty against the Yankees. So... who you wanna blame? Honestly... who's to blame in that situation? Heaney? Sure... go for it. He's a class act, he'll own it because he's a stand up guy. But you can't blame him entirely. Sorry.
I chalk this up to a Yankee coaching staff that just doesn't react as quickly as the underdog. Did you watch the game today? I mean did you REALLY WATCH IT? The Orioles knew when there was trouble they needed to stop the bleeding fast. When a pitcher was getting pounded, they quickly make a change. When things were going well... they kept it the same. Now think about the Yankees. When Andrew Heaney was struggling pretty quickly, nothing was being done. It was a "Wait and let's see what happens." We saw what happened... you waited too long. EVERYONE SAW IT. Everyone.
We knew what was going to happen and many times you know when you watch a pitcher that doesn't feel comfortable that you need to make a move fast. They didn't. The Yankees were "working through it." The Orioles played today like they were playing for something. That was the difference with the entire series. Orioles played for something. Yankees played to survive. Duct tape and spit doesn't make a championship team folks, and if this is the way it could be in the playoffs with the Yankees, I can guarantee you we will be timid, slow, run out of pitching options fast and be gone after the Division Series. We can't play to get by... we need to play for something. We need to play to win like the Orioles did today.
I don't blame Andrew Heaney today. I blame an ejected Aaron Boone, sitting in the clubhouse still making moves on what pitcher should come in next. The Yankees were slow, not dedicated to winning and all about trying to balance a bad weekend against a team 41 games back. Boone and his crew seriously have to learn to manage in tight sitations with the right personnel and stop guessing.
Heaney coming in in a relief role was a miserable and stupid guess, much like Aroldis Chapman coming into a 3-3 NON-save situation the day before. The mindset is different, pitchers like these are NOT automatic and it's just not that easy to switch it on and off. Boone's never been a pitcher. He's never been a catcher. He does not see this and that is the problem. You wonder why catchers make better managers? The last 2 days is a perfect example of why they are better. Pitchers are wired differently. Catchers know this.
Now Heaney is not well liked in New York these days. And I am not one of those people. I think Heaney was a last minute pick up who's not used to a big market and the pressure of New York City. But he's not a loser either and he certainly is not a reliever. Today was hard on the guy... but I don't fault him. Once again I fault the Yankee manager. In the game or ejected and out of it, Boone needs makes the decisions.
Tody on Twitter some dude asked me how I knew Boone was still running the show after he was ejected. I mean, I thought everyone knew this, but I guess it's worth repeating...
Managers that get ejected are thrown out of the game. It is true that they have to get out of the dugout and go in the clubhouse and be out of site. But do not think for a second that these guys aren't still pulling the strings. You think Carlos Mendoza knew what to do today? No... he checked with the manager... Aaron Boone. Boone sets the day, he sets the strategy or lack there of... and he knows what he wants for his team. And trust me when I tell you... Boone blew it.
You can wish to DFA Andrew Heaney all you want Bob Klapisch. Kind of irresponsible for a sports writer to root, but whatever. How about instead the haters give him a few more shots as a starter and see how he does.
Hell, we gave Corey Kluber a shot today and he laid an egg... but that's OK? Heaney laid an egg too... IN A ROLE HE'S NOT TYPICALLY UTILIZED IN. Meanwhile NJ.com Boone glosses over Kluber and instead throws Heaney under the bus after the game:
"...In the end, just couldn’t get out of the inning. It’s an important role down there and he’s going to have to share some of that role. He’s going to have to step up."
He was terrible as a starter. I understand he is here because at the time Covid or maybe they thought he was better than Cortes (they were wrong) if the Angels were done with him and by the way person we gave up made his start in the MLB today and an error did him on or he would had pitched a nice game. I think we need to find a better overall pitcher evaluation method because were hitting on about 30% of our choices
ReplyDeleteSeriously, Heaney has never been a quality pitcher like Corey Kluber, that's why you cut some slack for Kluber and not Heaney. Heaney is a loser and Boone is a loser for constantly using Heaney !!
ReplyDelete