The Genius Maker #130

Welcome to the playoffs!

I don't understand why the Yanks didn't pitch CC on Friday as he said he would rather go into the playoffs on normal rest; I think Girardi panicked...again. I also don;t get why he would pitch CC in the 9th? I can only hope that not listening to your most important pitcher doesn't screw up CC. I would imagine he will throw in between, but why not give him his rest now and pitch him Friday. Keep in mind he pitched great last night and my comments are only about the postseason. In situations like this I ask my pitcher what he would rather do and I go that route as it makes zero difference to anything else.

I want the Yankees to win the division, but certain guys better get time off. Cano could use a few games as an example.

BTW, who was that team playing last night? Sacrificing to move runners over and actually delivering on 3 sac flies.

Some notes:

Burnett is 4-13 with a 6.67 ERA since the end of May. He really has been awful and I would not start him in the 1st round of the playoffs (ALDS). Does anyone really have faith in him over the other options we have? Could he pitch well? Sure, but look how bad he has been for almost 4 months...the worst pitcher in the AL with enough starts to qualify...yes the worst. You have a better chance of getting lucky with Nova or even Vazquez/Mitre/Moseley. As I have said a few times, his stuff would play well out of the pen, but his head might not have it. I would move him to the pen for the last week and see how he responds, otherwise he is off my ALDS roster.

Other Notes:

The Yanks have now lost their last 8 games against lefty starters. How many times have I stated I wanted a righty who hits lefties, instead of Kearns?

The ALDS isn’t hard to figure out based on the game schedule I see:

Game One – Sabathia
Game Two – Pettitte

Game Three – Hughes
Game Four – Sabathia

Game Five – Pettitte

CC pitches on 3 games rest but Pettitte gets 4 based on off days.

I will break down the playoff opponents in the next week, just like last year.