The Yankees took a 4-0 beating at the hands of the Royals on Wednesday night in Kansas City. With the win, the fast-starting Royals clinched a win in the early series between the clubs this year. Even though there was a persistent rain, the game got played to completion. The Bronx Bombers learned that their new manager does not have a career as a meteorologist to fall back upon.
Ian Kennedy was scheduled to start the game. Brian Bruney did instead. Joe Girardi took a gamble that rain would at least delay the game. He lost that gamble and had Bruney, Billy Traber, and Kyle Farnsworth throw the first 5 innings. Unsurprisingly, Farnsworth gave up a pair of runs to put the team behind. The idiocy of Girardi’s move defies description. There is no way to predict how weather will impact a game. Although there was a chance the game could have been delayed or rained out, the possibility was just as likely that the game would be shortened by rain. Had that been the case, the manager was willing to let the worst pitchers on his roster decide it. Girardi compounded his insane tactics by putting Kennedy in for the last 3 innings in relief, thereby wasting his starter. Kennedy gave up a pair of runs in his first inning of work before pitching a pair of shutout frames. Starters feel comfortable because they are secure in knowing when they will pitch. Girardi threw Ian under a bus by making it guesswork. Kennedy could not get into a comfort zone. The team thinks he is a better pitcher than his three predecessors, but Girardi thought it was best to have him pitch 3 innings and the inferior relievers 5. Had Joe Torre made a move this stupid, people would be calling for his head. Back in 2006, Girardi helped to ruin Josh Johnson’s early career by reinserting the youngster after a long rain delay. The highly-regarded pitcher has not been the same since that night and has gone under the knife for major surgery, which many believe was a result. Joe was clearly was trying to cover himself in case such an event occurred. Trying to cover one’s rear end is not a recipe for success managing in New York. It might be early in the year, but it would be tough to blame anybody to start questioning whether Joe Girardi is ready for such a high-profile job after this stunt. Even if Kennedy had started and the rain had come, the bullpen would have had a long night. There at least would have been a chance for Ian to go deep into the game. Girardi’s move eliminated that chance and put the game into the bullpen’s hands no matter what happened. Not at least giving the best players on the roster a chance is a sure recipe for disaster.
In the end, the offense did absolutely nothing against Zack Greinke. When a team scores no runs, the pitching does not matter much. Perhaps the bats did not come fired up since their manager’s decision lulled them to sleep by making them think a rainout was imminent. Regardless, this game was disturbing for the signal it sent. It looked like the driver was asleep at the wheel. Bizarre moves are not always a source of “outside the box” genius. Sometimes they are just stupid.
