It also gives Cora more pitchers to use in blowouts. You still have to cover the innings in non-meaningful situations.
The net result is that in September, the good relievers will all have pitched a few less innings than they normally would have by that point.
Of course they didn't build the roster around him.
But under the current bizarre circumstances of MLB, this seems to be working out pretty damn good with him.
Disagree 100%.
Whitlock pitched on the 4th, 8th, 14th, 19th and 23rd.
Big gaps between appearances. Which means most games he's 100% unavailable.
It's having an extra pitcher that enables them to use him like this.
As a general rule, pinch hitters suck.
Take a look at the MLB-wide batting splits for each year.
Pinch hitters do consistently lousy. It's crazy how bad the numbers are, actually.
Yankee fans were all over Judge tonight as he was again moving slowly in the field and on the base paths, in costly ways. Some accused him of loafing. Seems much more likely he's got an injury, but if so why is he playing?
Maybe it's not all about how many we "need". Maybe they just figure it will pay off over the course of the season, with guys pitching less innings they'll be better rested. And of course there were concerns about fatigue coming into the year after the shortened 2020 season.
The bottom line is that Cora and company have their reasons.
Whitlock is likely one of the main reasons they're going with 14 pitchers. Because they're only using him in very specific situations where he can pitch multiple innings.
But you can't just shuttle players to and from the alternate site without any consequences (burning options/waiting periods), I wouldn't think. Otherwise every team would be doing it.
A bunch of Yankee fans were commenting on how slowly he's been moving in the outfield. I looked up his fielding and base-running stats and they're hugely in minus territory, so it seems to be a stone cold fact there's something wrong with his mobility.
I think Judge is hurt and I see another lengthy IL stint in his future.
Stanton and Torres don't know how to do anything but swing for the fences. Stanton is also a big health risk. They're afraid to put him on the field.
This is the first year of Mookie's extension.
He's been struggling lately.
He missed some games with lower back stiffness. Then he got hit in the right forearm by a pitch.
12 year contracts are risky business.