Mitre – Mightier Than Midges?
Via Mark Feinsand -
The next round of the fifth-starter competiton gets underway Friday night in Port Charlotte, where Sergio Mitre and Chad Gaudin will pitch against the Rays.
Mitre, who has allowed three runs in nine innings during his three outings, will start the game. Gaudin will follow him, looking to thrust himself back in the race after posting a 7.71 ERA in his first three appearances.
“I think we’re going to have some tough decisions with this,” Joe Girardi said. “We’ll make them and move forward. Right now, everybody is throwing the ball decent.”
Girardi indicated that any of the five candidates could be eliminated from the race following his next start, though he also said the entire group might be given one more turn to make its case.
I almost fell out of my chair last night, during the YES broadcast of the game, when John Flaherty said “I talked to a couple of scouts today who were raving about the way Sergio Mitre is throwing this Spring.”
Hughes, Aceves and Chamberlain all have remaining minor-league options. Would the Yankees dare give the fifth slot to Mitre in order to keep him and see if there’s some magic there?
Personally, I think that would be a mistake. But, that’s just me. How about you?
I doubt that Hughes and Chamberlain would be sent to the minors.
Mitre has honestly looked a lot better this year, compared to how he looked on the mound last season. I think he’s definitely worth giving a chance, but at this point, it will probably be Hughes or Joba. As well as Ace has pitched, Girardi may feel that having him and Chamberlain in the pen with Hughes in the rotation makes the strongest staff.
One thing is for sure. Mitre has definitely passed Gaudin at this point.
I have to say that I’m pretty shocked at how Mitre has pitched so far this spring. Perhaps he’s all the way back from his arm surgery of a couple of years ago. Perhaps, also, it’s just that spring training results mean nothing and that we can’t overlook the 362.1 career MLB innings where Mitre has pitched like complete crap.
Personally, I’d lean towards the latter position and just hope that some pitching-desperate team is willing to pay a little more for Mitre than they would’ve before spring training to take him off our hands.
MJ Recanati wrote:
Yep. Having said that, it wouldn’t matter to me one way or the other if they kept him or let him go.
Raf wrote:
Nor to me. I’m fine with keeping him too, just as long as everyone tempers their expectations just a bit. As we agree, spring training results don’t mean a whole lot.
If the Yankees were to send Joba/Hughes to the minors for one month, given their current service time, would they have an extra year?
If Mitre wins the fifth spot, what’s the big deal? This notion that guys have to have “assigned” roles in bullpens is crap. Earl Weaver believed that the proper way to develop young arms was to use them as long-men and/or spot starters. Funny how he always seemed to have starters who had long, fine careers. The worst that could happen, Mitre takes the fifth (sorry about that), gets a few starts in May and makes the season, in effect, shorter for Hughes/Chamberlain.
One other thing. This so-called “Verducci effect” started off about 15-20 years ago that pitchers and catchers who were heavily worked before the age of 24/25 had shortened careers. He believed (I think with conversations with doctors and his data) that the cartilage wasn’t fully developed until then. Hope I didn’t get carried away…
Sergio Mitre < Christian Parker
Remember Christian Parker????
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200104060.shtml
Thank you, I’ve been trying to remember the third member of the un-holy trinity of Jeff Johnson,Wade Taylor,and, of course Parker in the early 90′s. I need to point out that Girardi thought highly of Mitre in Miami (before TJ surgery), and that now Mitre should be fully recovered. He sucked last year, but he certainly had some pretty good movement on his pitches.”They say that control is the last thing to return after TJ. Let’s not give him the dreaded “Parker” label just yet.
KPOcala wrote:
I think you’re confusing Parker with Scott Kamienicki, who did have a little success while Taylor & Johnson faded.
Christian Parker had this monster spring in 2001, and was given a rotation spot. He got lit up in his only outing, landed on the DL, and was never heard from again.
@ 77yankees:
Your right,I was thinking of Clay Parker instead of Christian. Your also correct about Kamienicki who managed to pitch in 250 games over a nine year career. Man does time fly!