Post by inger on Jan 15, 2018 0:43:52 GMT -5
I think that some of the low innings count for CC and Montgomery can be pinned on deposed manager Joe Girardi. He had a loaded bullpen and was often determined to use it. In CC's case, I think Girardi may have been a bit overly concerned about CC's knee. In the case of Montgomery, Girardi has a history of pulling young pitchers out of games at the first sign of trouble, plus he had the legitimate concern of Montgomery's innings limit (to use as an excuse at times).
Looking at the game logs, I see that CC was only allowed to break the 100-pitch plane twice all season, both at 102. I've mentioned before that there were a few instances where a very perplexed CC handed the ball over to Joe when pitching effectively with a moderate pitch count and while pitching quite well. What I read in CC's face was that he felt as though his manager no longer trusted him. It may be completely my imagination that says that Girardi was concerned about the big man's knee...
Looking at Montgomery, I see that he got to throw 100 or more pitches 5 times, with a high of 104 on July 19, after which he only got to throw into the 90's twice more the rest of the way (11 Yankee starts). I don't feel this was based on effectiveness since Montgomery's ERA after the July 19 start was 4.09, and he ended the season at 3.88. I think he was for the most part, the same pitcher, but Girardi was holding off on the innings. The error Girardi may have made was in allowing Montgomery to pitch a minimum of 6.0 innings in 9 of his first 18 starts, forcing him to limit him to do so only 3 times in his final 11 starts, and in so doing THAT we saw Montgomery, who had typically thrown 85-100 pitches per outing in the first 18 starts suddenly limited to 70-80 pitches for most of the remaining 11 starts. In the interest of building the confidence of the young pitcher, since there was a pitch limit, I would have preferred to see the innings limited to 5 or 6 through those first 18 starts and seen the "gloves" taken off down the stretch in the division race and let him grow. It was some backwards management that I didn't approve of, and I saw it coming when Montgomery's innings began to pile up early in the season. I hate stuff like that. If I can see it, why can't the professional manager that was hired to see things like that see it and control it? It's beyond me.
These are two of the minor signs that I do believe were taken into consideration when the Yankees decided that change was in order for the Yankees. In losing a degree of faith in his players, Girardi's team began to question the moves he was making, and therefore the team had also lost a degree of faith in the manager...
Looking at the game logs, I see that CC was only allowed to break the 100-pitch plane twice all season, both at 102. I've mentioned before that there were a few instances where a very perplexed CC handed the ball over to Joe when pitching effectively with a moderate pitch count and while pitching quite well. What I read in CC's face was that he felt as though his manager no longer trusted him. It may be completely my imagination that says that Girardi was concerned about the big man's knee...
Looking at Montgomery, I see that he got to throw 100 or more pitches 5 times, with a high of 104 on July 19, after which he only got to throw into the 90's twice more the rest of the way (11 Yankee starts). I don't feel this was based on effectiveness since Montgomery's ERA after the July 19 start was 4.09, and he ended the season at 3.88. I think he was for the most part, the same pitcher, but Girardi was holding off on the innings. The error Girardi may have made was in allowing Montgomery to pitch a minimum of 6.0 innings in 9 of his first 18 starts, forcing him to limit him to do so only 3 times in his final 11 starts, and in so doing THAT we saw Montgomery, who had typically thrown 85-100 pitches per outing in the first 18 starts suddenly limited to 70-80 pitches for most of the remaining 11 starts. In the interest of building the confidence of the young pitcher, since there was a pitch limit, I would have preferred to see the innings limited to 5 or 6 through those first 18 starts and seen the "gloves" taken off down the stretch in the division race and let him grow. It was some backwards management that I didn't approve of, and I saw it coming when Montgomery's innings began to pile up early in the season. I hate stuff like that. If I can see it, why can't the professional manager that was hired to see things like that see it and control it? It's beyond me.
These are two of the minor signs that I do believe were taken into consideration when the Yankees decided that change was in order for the Yankees. In losing a degree of faith in his players, Girardi's team began to question the moves he was making, and therefore the team had also lost a degree of faith in the manager...