Will Freddy Garcia make the Yankees’ rotation? Here’s our man Cliff over at PB:
For a while I was worried that Nova might get optioned to Triple-A because he’s the one candidate who can be safely stashed in the minors (Mitre is out of options and both Colon and Garcia can void their deals if they don’t make the 25-man roster), but after Mitre’s poor and, perhaps more importantly and tellingly, brief outing on Tuesday, the only remaining role for him seemed to be the long-relief job. However, if that job is Colon’s, Mitre is out and Nova is, rightfully, in.
Again, I might be reading a bit to much into this, but I’m willing to believe we have our answer on the Yankees rotation battle: Nova and Garia in the rotation, Colon in the bullpen, and Mitre off the roster. We’ll know for sure within a week’s time.
I hope Colon gets the nod as 4th or 5th starter and Garcia heads to the pen (with Mitre released). Colon may be seriously overweight, but his ERA this spring is 2.40 as compared to 5.93 for Garcia, and colon has struck out 17 batters in 15 innings with 1 walk, as compared to Garcia fanning 12 in 13.2 innings with 2 walks.
Yeah, the sample size police may jump on me, but isn't the point of Spring Training pitching audition to determine who gets a job and who doesn't?
At this stage, I'd be More comfortable seeing Colon waddle out to the mound every fifth day
Seem you might get some decent games out of either, but in different ways.
Garcia strikes me as a guy hanging on, with some smarts. He might win a game against a tough team, but he's just as likely to lose against a crappy team if his fastball doesn't pop that day.
Colon seems like a guy who will beat the crappy teams everytime and lose to the good teams everytime. He's like the pitching version of a guess hitter. Is there a term for that?