TORONTO — Thirty-one games into a disappointing season, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman insists it’s time for his star-studded club to improve on the mound and in the clutch at the plate.
“We got our work cut for us; it’s better than this, but it’s got to get better now. No more waiting,” Cashman said yesterday as the 15-16 Yankees braced to face Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay tonight.
TONIGHT’S PREVIEW: Yankees at Blue Jays
A.J. Burnett, a pitcher who needs to improve over what he has offered in six starts, will be on the mound for the Yankees against his former club and mentor.
“It’s been our pitching and not hitting with runners in scoring position,” said Cashman, who doesn’t hear the demand for excellence in George Steinbrenner’s loud voice anymore, but listens to the same message about improvement from the Steinbrenner family. “I think our hitting with runners in scoring position has impacted us more than the bullpen and I know the bullpen hasn’t been good.”
Nothing about the staff has been good.
Overall, the Yankees’ 5.79 ERA is 29th out of 30 MLB teams. Only the Indians, at 5.83, are worse.
The rotation, which was supposed to be bolstered by the additions of CC Sabathia and Burnett and the return of Andy Pettitte, is 28th in the majors with a 9-10 ledger and a 5.64 ERA. The Red Sox (14-10; 5.81) and the Phillies (7-10; 6.28) trail the Yankees. The Yanks starters’ .289 batting average against is the fifth highest in baseball.
FORMER PLAYER: RED SOX TAUGHT STEROIDS
MORE: Complete Yankees Coverage
The bullpen, which has been without Brian Bruney (elbow) and Damaso Marte (shoulder) and has been killed by Jose Veras, ranks 28th with a 6-6 record and 6.04 ERA. Opposing hitters are batting .263 against the Yankees relievers.
“A lot of things will get better when we get Bruney and Marte back,” said Cashman, who doesn’t know when that will be.
As for the lack of clutch hitting, the Yankees are 14th with runners in scoring position at .244 (70-for-287). The biggest culprit has been Mark Teixeira, a career .324 hitter in the clutch, who is batting .192 (5-for-26).
Sabathia was sensational Friday night with a complete-game shutout of the Orioles. After his customary first-inning blues Sunday, Joba Chamberlain was solid. It figures that Burnett would need to fall in line against Halladay, who is 7-1 with a 2.36 ERA the past two seasons against the Yankees and 6-1 with a 3.29 ERA overall this season.
“I don’t know who Roy is,” Burnett said of the right-hander he credits for teaching him the finer points of pitching while they were in the Jays’ rotation. “I know that’s what he is thinking right now. He doesn’t know who he is pitching against. That’s going to be great.”
Burnett, who is 2-0 with a 5.26 ERA in six starts, will make an exception in the dugout while the Yankees are hacking against Halladay’s fastball that runs in and out.
“I don’t watch too much of the other pitcher, but you can’t help watch Doc,” said Burnett, who spent three years learning from Halladay. “He will be focused and so am I. Hopefully I can match everything he does.”
Only one of Burnett’s starts has been horrible: against Boston, when he flushed a 6-0 lead and allowed eight runs and eight hits (two homers) in five innings. But when the Yankees gave him $82.5 million for five years, they believed he would be better.
The same can be said for the remainder of the rotation that was supposed to be the club’s spine.
“I am confident and sure this thing will turn around,” pitching coach Dave Eiland predicted. “These guys have to do better and my job is to get them better. It will turn around. If you think any other way, you shouldn’t be here.”