Bronx Briefing: Soriano Still Struggling For Yankees
By Neil Keefe
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I'm trying to figure out how the best offense in baseball has only five hits in 18 innings against a team that came to the Bronx with a 2-11 record in their last 13 games. And I'm still trying to figure out how Brent Lillibridge made either of the two catches he made in the span of about 35 seconds on Tuesday night to save the White Sox's second win in as many days over the Yankees.
Lillibridge wouldn't have been in the game if he didn't have to pinch run for Carlos Quentin after Quentin was hit by a pitch. And he wouldn't have had a chance to make those catches if the Yankees didn't have to bat in the bottom of the ninth. But Lillibridge was in the game because Rafael Soriano had more control problems, which led to his second epic collapse of the season, and the Yankees had to bat in the bottom of the ninth because those control problems led to a two-run home run from Paul Konerko.
On the same day that the Yankees sent Phil Hughes for a pair of MRIs, leading to more unsettling questions about the rotation, it was the Yankees' bullpen (their preseason strength) that couldn't a hold a lead on a night the team's offense didn't show up for the second game in a row.
It's frustrating to watch Soriano fail to pitch scoreless innings (he's pitched just one perfect inning this season) because of what he did with Tampa Bay last season -- and what he's done in the past to become an elite reliever in the league. He gave up 12 earned runs and walked 14 in all of 2010 (62.1 IP). This season, he's already allowed nine earned runs and walked eight in 11 appearances and has put 21 runners on base in 10 1/3 innings.
Whether it's the weather or just a rare slump for Soriano, it doesn't make much sense to keep running him out there for only the eighth because he is the so-called "The Eighth-Inning Guy." There should be only one guaranteed bullpen job on the Yankees -- and that's the ninth inning. The other assignments should be earned on the field and shouldn't be based on annual earnings.
I'm not saying that Soriano should be taken out of the eighth-inning role permanently, but I'm not sure how David Roberston, the only reliever to not have given up a run this season, has a different role every game, despite outstanding results (8.1 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K).
Sure, Robertson has had his fair share of meltdowns in his three-plus seasons with the Yankees. But for someone who has always struggled early in the season, Robertson is currently the most effective, reliable and trustworthy reliever not named Mariano Rivera on the team.
The Yankees already have one Boone Logan and one Joba Chamberlain, and for now it looks like they have another, more expensive version of both. While Soriano should be given the benefit of the doubt, letting him work out his problems as the setup man in one-run games is as bad of an idea as having set roles for every inning in the bullpen.
I think Soriano will bounce back because his career shows us he will, and because I have no other choice. He'll be here for three years with his $35 million contract. It's been bad for Soriano in his first month as a Yankee -- between blowing games and skipping postgame interviews -- but it's way too early to call him the next Kyle Farnsworth.
It's up to him to make sure we don't.
