Bruney, Robertson Could Play Big Roles In October

Columns — By Ian Collier on September 13, 2009 6:46 pm

George King of the New York Post is reporting that the Yankees have gotten some encouraging news on a talented young reliever:

David Robertson and the Yankees got good news after the reliever had his ailing elbow examined by Dr. James Andrews.

“He won’t be out more than 10 days to two weeks,” Brian Cashman said today. “He should be pitching before September (ends).

“It’s great news. I talked to [his] agent and David is really is pumped. Like everyone else, he wants to be part of it and he wants to be healthy.”

It’s easy to overlook the importance of this news because Robertson, despite pitching quite well this season, remains somewhat of an ignored commodity.  It’s important to note his rate of 13.4 strikeouts per 9 innings is the second highest among all pitchers in baseball with at least 40 innings pitched (behind only Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton).  He has not allowed an earned run in 12 of his last 14 appearances, and recorded a strikeout in 13 of those games – the lone exception being a 1/3 of an inning stint against Toronto.

If Robertson’s able to return before the season ends, he’d be a lock for a spot on the postseason roster.  A few more dominating appearances between now and the playoffs, and Robertson could really begin to establish himself as a trusted late-inning arm, a role he was on his way to claiming before his elbow ailment knocked him out.

Meanwhile, Brian Bruney has quietly been enjoying a resurgence out of the bullpen.  Since August 1st, Bruney has allowed just 2 earned runs, appearing in 14 games over that span.  You may remember how dominant Bruney looked in April, a month he finished with 12 strikeouts in 8 innings pitched against just 2 walks.  He was knocked out with an elbow injury soon thereafter and returned looking like a shell of his former self, culminating in an 11.81 ERA in July.

Criticize Joe Girardi all you’d like – there’s plenty not to like – but he’s done a nice job guiding Bruney through his struggles.  Throughout it all, his velocity never lagged, which was encouraging; it seemed to be a matter of poor location that was consistently doing him in.  Girardi, realizing the importance of getting Bruney back to being effective, found every opportunity to run him out there and regain his command.  That’s not an easy thing to do while still trying to win every night, and it’s to his credit that Bruney seems to be enjoying a bit of a late-season renaissance.

Getting two middle relievers going might seem like a trifling matter for a team that appears headed for 100 wins before the last week of September.  But aside from solid starting pitching, those beloved turn-of-the-century Yankee championship teams had strong relief pitching in spades – Mendoza, Stanton, Nelson, Rivera, Wetteland, Graeme Lloyd (yeah, that’s right).

The more recent Yankee teams haven’t had that shutdown bullpen to keep them in close and late games.  Either they relied upon a corps consisting of subpar pitchers (Kyle Farnsworth, Tanyon Sturtze, Al Leiter, Scott Proctor) or leaned too heavily upon one talented setup man (Tom Gordon).  This 2009 vintage, led by the indefatigable Mariano Rivera and a dominant Phil Hughes, could have a lot of options for Girardi to call upon in October if Robertson, Bruney, and even Damaso Marte can recover from injury, ineffectiveness, or both.

Tags: Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte, David Robertson, Joe Girardi, Mariano Rivera, Phil Hughes