From the New York Times, the rationale behind the Yankees’ temporary deployment of their own six-man rotation:
A.J. Burnett’s Job Safe ... For Now
Yankees Manager Joe Girardi had been evasive for days, refusing to commit to any sort of a plan for his two young starters, Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova, beyond the starts that each was scheduled to make this week. With six starters currently on the roster, Girardi had said he wanted to see each pitcher one more time before deciding which one would remain in the team’s rotation.
--snip--
Girardi acknowledged that balancing the needs of his pitchers, along with the overall needs of the team, could be a challenge.
"It becomes tricky," Girardi said. "We haven’t figured it all out what we’re going to do."
Well, at least he’s honest about it.
Fortunately, there’s no real need to figure it all out. Not yet.
The Yankees have a huge lead over the next-best second-best teams in the American League. They're practically a dead-solid lock to qualify for the championship tournament. It really doesn't matter who's got the No. 5 slot in the Yankee rotation, because they throw Kyle Davies out there every fifth day and still cruise into the postseason.
You know what matters, though? The No. 4 slot. At some point -- basically, in the event that Freddy Garcia or Bartólo Colon turn into pumpkins -- the No. 3 slot might matter, too. At the moment, though, both veterans have surprisingly good earned-run averages and peripherals to match. It's early August, and we should probably stop assuming that they're not for real. Major ups to management for a couple of brilliant acquisitions.
So for the moment, let's assume the Yankees have three reliable starters: Garcia, Colon, and of course CC Sabathia.
In October, you need four starters. At least occasionally. So it really doesn’t matter who’s No. 5 at the end of the season, because No. 5 isn’t going to pitch when it counts. What matters, at least a little bit, is who’s No. 4.
And that spot is very much up in the air.
Right now, the Yankees are behaving as if their fourth-best starting pitcher is A.J. Burnett. He is not fighting for his job. He doesn't have to worry about Ivan Nova taking his place.
Not yet. And you might argue that Burnett doesn’t have worry because he’s exceptionally wealthy: $16.5 million this season, $16.5 million next season, and finally another $16.5 million the season after that. Burnett shouldn’t have to worry about paying the mortgage for quite some time, and those numbers mean he’ll be given every chance to succeed. It doesn’t look good to leave that kind of money in the bullpen. Or off a postseason roster.
Still, the Yankees scored 18 runs Wednesday night and Burnett couldn’t hang around long enough to qualify for the win; his ERA is now 4.54.
Brian Cashman believes in the Power of the Strikeout. That’s why he signed Burnett in the first place. And while Burnett’s not the strikeout pitcher he was before signing with the Yankees, he’s more of a strikeout pitcher than Ivan Nova will ever be, and more than Hughes has been this season.
Which doesn’t mean he’s been a better pitcher than those guys. Or, more to the point, will be better. I suspect that what Hughes and Nova are really fighting over is not really the No. 5 slot in the rotation, but rather the chance to fight with Burnett for the No. 4 slot, and perhaps a start or two in October.
So the battle’s worth watching. But maybe not why you think.
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