Swisher: “It’s just not getting any better”
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Sep 12, 2010 
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There were three key parts of the Yankees lineup missing this afternoon. Joe Girardi was already planning to sit Alex Rodriguez and Brett Gardner, but just before the game he had to also scratch Nick Swisher. For the past week, Swisher has been clearly bothered by a sore left knee that has shown no structural damage, but has left him hobbling around the bases and in the outfield.
“It’s just not getting any better,” he said. “I can’t go out there chasing after a ball in the gap with one leg. That’s not going to do anybody any good. I thought it would get a lot better a lot faster than it has.”
An MRI has shown no break or tear, but Swisher has been in noticeable discomfort. He sat out a few games earlier this month and believed it was getting better, but he said he aggravated the injury on Wednesday — the same game when he hit the walk-off homer — when he took a swing that made him fall down in the box.
Whether Swisher can play tomorrow is uncertain.
“That’s a good question,” he said. “I don’t know. I come here to the ballpark every day ready to play. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen.”
Brett Gardner
Girardi said he was planning to give Gardner a day off today anyway, but that certainly became the case when Gardner complained to Kevin Long about lingering soreness in his right wrist and was pulled from Saturday’s game. It might help explain Gardner’s .207 batting average this month. The Yankees are planning an MRI this week in Tampa.
Alex Rodriguez
Another day off that has been in the works for a while. Girardi said during the previous home stand that Rodriguez would take a day off either in Texas or in Tampa, and he said last night that the day off would likely come this afternoon. Basically, the Yankees pushed Rodriguez back from the disabled list as soon as possible, giving him no rehab assignment but knowing they would have to ease him into everyday duty. Frustrating as it may be, this was the safest way to get Rodriguez back quickly without rushing his recovery.
We need these guys healthy. I trust Girardi to do the right thing.
CB -
I agree, Cano looks as if he’s just going through the motions, something you see when a player is dog tired.
Swish with the bum knee was playing hard dispite the fact it appeared he should be on the bench.
By all accounts A-Rod is healthy, just had 15 days off, and should not be in need of a rest.
Why have September call-ups, if you’re not going to use them.
Give Cano a couple days off during the O’s series, he needs it.
Again, I love Girardi, but, at times I think he simply over manages, and causes the team to lose.
Swisher’s injury is very concerning…………..maybe they should do another MRI.
What will make NO SENSE to me is if Girardi plays all the regulars in Tampa on turf, yet needed to rest them on grass this weekend.
He set up a practice this weekend that it’s about resting the regulars and banged up guys and that is more important than an individual win.
What does it say if he plays the starters the next 3 straight?
And the oldest most important player on the team doesn’t benefit from this rest mandate in Mo.
Does any of this make sense to you?
Something is wrong here.
I think Girardi has too many conflicting ideas in his head and his focus is not uniform.
I’ll go back to what I said during pregame.
I believe he is resting Alex in an effort to make Jeter think it’s not just him who needed a break.
I think that because he lumps Jeter and Arod into the alternating days of rest category as if you can rest one but not the other and they are intrinsically tied together when it comes to this issue.
The only reason I see he needed to rest Arod today was because he swore to the press yesterday that Jeter’s day off was planned and not driven by performance and that Alex was next.
Maybe I’m wrong for thinking this, but I can’t shake why Jeter and Arod are tied together with this “rest” issue every time Girardi brings it up publicly.
but Trisha don’t you know it doesn’t matter Joe HAS to play EVERYONE every day who cares if they break down in the playoffs a series win in Texas IS the season
Swisher rested today, didn’t he?
But for his walkoff HR, this team would be on a 6 game losing streak. Not playing good at all.
Yank 97,
Swisher was in the starting lineup at first despite the fact that he could walk without limping the past 3 games.
He was pulled at the last minute.
It wasn’t planned rest. Girardi wanted to play him. It was more akin to he woke up and couldn’t physically play today.
Swish should get more tests done on his knee. There is obviously something going on in there that they don’t know about. He was running on one leg and can barely move out there. Also Cano should get 2 days off against Baltimore. He has looked really tired with no life in his bat this last week.
Gayle, if you had to pick and choose you would think it would at least be understandable to folks that games you play against Texas might not make a bit of difference since Tampa could be winning the same number of games elsewhere, while games you play against Tampa WILL make a difference since they are the team you are seeking distance from. Doing the math would show that the Yankees would walk away with a tie for first at the very worst, no matter what happened in Texas and what happened in Toronto. Therefore you’d think that the games people would want the players healthiest for would be the head to head with Tampa. That of course is for people who can’t manage the overarching perspective of having players healthy for the postseason at all costs.
It boggles the imagination.
I need the GPS lady to follow all the twists and turns this blog took today.
Positive-
Good job by Moseley. He probably gave them as much length as any starter the last week or so.
Derek looked like he was seeing the ball much better today and worked Lee. 27 of Lee’s 109 pitches today were to Derek.
“What will make NO SENSE to me is if Girardi plays all the regulars in Tampa on turf, yet needed to rest them on grass this weekend.”
Or he decided to get the rest out of the way against Texas, so that he could go all hands on deck against Tampa.
I think the problem is is that Girardi equates rest to age. Olders players = more rest. Young players = less rest.
The MO thing is odd – I have to believe that MO assured him he was fine to throw yesterday.
“What will make NO SENSE to me is if Girardi plays all the regulars in Tampa on turf, yet needed to rest them on grass this weekend.”
LOL, are you kidding me?
What’s their batting average, record and ER avg on the road this year?
hahahaha,
I’d like to go back to the Mo thing as I think either posters are missing something here, or I am. Mo has NOT pitched a lot of innings this season. Rafael Soriano leads the league in Save opportunities, with 44. Mo comes in 7th, with 32. Mo has had plenty of rest this season. Pitching him two innings did not compromise him in the least, IMO.
Mariano has pitched 53 innings this year. Soriano has pitched 55.1.
The amount of save opportunities doesn’t really matter.
GLove, I don’t agree at all about Jeter/Alex, but I agree wholeheartedly with the rest of your post.
Swish certainly should have his knee examined again
Actually the number of save opportunities do matter as it is a lot more stressful coming into a game to save it than getting dumped into a game just to get some work in.
And as I said before about complete statistics, there are innings and there are pitches per inning. Someone who has thrown 40 pitches in an inning certainly wouldn’t be good to go the next day where someone who has thrown 9 would be fine. Innings don’t necessarily tell the story on wear and tear either.
“Actually the number of save opportunities do matter as it is a lot more stressful coming into a game to save it than getting dumped into a game just to get some work in.”
How do you know what innings have been stressful and what have not. It could have been tie games which are stressful. Soriano could have been coming into 3 runs ball games which are not stressful.
“And as I said before about complete statistics, there are innings and there are pitches per inning. Someone who has thrown 40 pitches in an inning certainly wouldn’t be good to go the next day where someone who has thrown 9 would be fine. Innings don’t necessarily tell the story on wear and tear either.”
I am not the one making the argument. You are and you presented a very misleading and incomplete argument which you yourself admit based on your belief in complete statistics. I was simply addressing a point you made. Not making a larger one.
Willie Randolph once said when he was 3rd base coach during the good Yankee years in the 90′s that good teams know when to put a team away and do it without being relentless in running up the score. Just keep adding runs when the opponent scores.
This year’s team doesn’t know how or when to step on the neck of a team. Slim leads late in a game are a recipe for a loss. Stranding runners have become commonplace.
Sad about Brett Gardner. I should have realized that if any of our guys are struggling, it’s because of umpires or injury.
“Mariano has pitched 53 innings this year. Soriano has pitched 55.1.
The amount of save opportunities doesn’t really matter”
Neither are being pushed very hard. Mo had gone 5 days without pitching before going 2 innings and 24 pitches on Friday. Asking him to come back the next day was not a big deal. He just had a bad night.
Bill D,
I was not saying Mariano has been pushed. Just addressing incorrect point.
I don’t think Mariano should be pitching 2 innings at his age unless it is the playoffs. Regardless of how much he has been worked this year it is risky even with a low pitch count. Especially given Girardi’s rest mantra lately it was very contradictory and wrong IMO.
“Neither are being pushed very hard. Mo had gone 5 days without pitching before going 2 innings and 24 pitches on Friday. Asking him to come back the next day was not a big deal. He just had a bad night.”
Absolutely my point about Mo. He hasn’t pitched a great deal this season. He certainly hasn’t been overworked. That was in response to posters saying they didn’t understand the use of Mo for two innings Friday if Girardi was sincere about trying to rest his guys. What I said is that the rest of them play all the time. Mo didn’t have a heavy pitching schedule this season. So he was getting his rest whether he wanted it or not.
Fair point, LGY. I didn’t think it was that big an ask, but it is inconsistent with how Girardi has played it with his Everyday 8.
There was no “incorrect point”. A closer’s major responsibility is to save games. Mo had far fewer opportunities than 6 other closers. The rest is just getting work in.
End of discussion.
I don’t see it as contradictory at all. He’s resting players whose butts have been out there all season. Mo had a relatively easy season comparatively. Apples and oranges.
“Mo has NOT pitched a lot of innings this season.”
Soriano is not 40 years old.
It was extremely hot in Texas. Girardi let him go 2 innings, then brought him in the next night.
LOL @ Dallas Braden. Now that the Red Sox are pretty much out of it, I can laugh at that stain Braden. I guess he didnt care about his mound today when blowing his team’s 3-0 lead in the 6th by giving up 4 runs. That’s how Braden does things in favor of the 617.
How many pitches did he throw in two innings? It was extremely hot and he pitched at the end of the game.
The only way I would have seen that as problemmatic would be if Mo had been overused the way Torre used to do it and then tried to pull him in for two innings – or if Mo had a lot more save opportunities and was out on the mound all the time. Otherwise, I see no problem with it whatsoever.
Well I think I will tune in for the preview to Survivor Nicaragua.
Hopefully the Yankees have an easier time breathing in the Trop and get some energy.
Bill D,
I definitely see the argument on the other side, but I just like to err on the side of caution when it comes to Mariano.
We faced the heart of their rotation in Texas and were in two of those games to the very end.
Today Girardi sat Alex, Swisher and Gardner as Moseley faced their ace Cliff Lee.
It’ll be different in playoffs they’ll see C.C. and Andy instead Javy and Moseley.
Calm down folks.
“I don’t see it as contradictory at all. He’s resting players whose butts have been out there all season. Mo had a relatively easy season comparatively. Apples and oranges.”
——————————–
That’s if you weight their level of risk for injury on the same scale.
Mariano is a 40 year old closer who pitched through a rib injury last postseason and got injured this season as a result of pitching more than an inning. After which Girardi side he was going to be cautious going more than an inning with Mariano.
His workload may look light in theory, but given the context of who we are talking about this is not necessarily so.
Mariano btw has face 109 batters in high leverage situations. Soriano has faced 114 batters in high leverage situations. The amount of save opps do not tell you how much they have pitched or how stressful those innings have been.
Mo as also thrown more pitches than Soriano this season and Soriano has pitched more than 1 inning on only 1 occasion.
It is beginning to look like it is going to be one and out for the Yankees,
Just responding to the post that ARod’s been rested at the expense of Cano and Jeter and the implication that it was unnecessary rest. It has been reported here that ARod is to get pre-selected days of rest DUE TO HIS HIP. The calf injury was an unpleasant throw-in. It stinks, but that’s the way it is.
“Neither are being pushed very hard. Mo had gone 5 days without pitching before going 2 innings and 24 pitches on Friday. Asking him to come back the next day was not a big deal. He just had a bad night.”
Agree. Not that I would have done it, but Girardi asking MO to come back after throwing 2 innings (and 24 pitches) was not outrageous. He pushed it a little, but that blown save was on MO.
In the playoffs, Joe might need MO to do that very thing.
Doreen – yes.
LGY – Okay I’ll give you that.
Rhapsody – great points. I was there already but I like to see it in writing.
Yeah but it won’t be hot and humid in the postseason.
By the way, I jsut got home from a very long tiring day that wasn’t as pleasant as I’d hoped. I didn’t read anything besides this thread and Chad’s lead-ins. I know the score, I know the bare details of the game, and I know Girardi is being roasted over the coals for having the nerve to rest guys who can’t play.
Trisha
It is also fun to argue with you when you are a little riled up and I knew that incorect comment by me would do the trick
Oh, yeah, and tarred and feathered for having the gaul to use Mariano for 2 innings and then another inning the next day. Mo had a bad game and it’s Girardi’s fault. It’s NEVER that Mo just had a bad day. Never. He hasn’t not be overused or abused this entire season. When I posted a couple of days ago that the bullpen might be overextended I was assured by many that that couldn’t happen because (a) there was a day off and (b) Girardi had his guys perfectly rested and had his plan of usage all mapped out.
But because the bullpen failed a bit this series, all of sudden Girardi apparently does not know how to manage his pen, should not trust his closer when he tells him he can go (because Mo is the one that calls that shot) and is a blithering idiot.
The more a bullpen is used for more than 3 innings on consecutive games, it shows. No matter how well planned and rested.
The lineup gets no consistency when they plug and play the lineup daily. It’s a guessing game day to day and obviously if the Yanks could put out their everyday lineup, then maybe the offense would pick up, maybe not Jeter. He’s been like this most the season anyways, but it’s got to mess with fluidness of the lineup when you have guys out for extended periods of time.
Doreen, you don’t understand. But it’s this in a nutshell: the pitchers have been so miffed at Girardi’s weird moves that it caused them to give up 6, 7, and 4 runs this series.
m -
Oh, I see now. Silly me, thinking these guys were professionals.
I love Joe Girardi but he’s beginning to look like Joe Torre. Has he totally abandoned the small game? I’ve seen bases loaded to many times with 1 out or no outs & they fail to come away with a run. BUNT, BUNT, BUNT & BUNT AGAIN, IT’S CALLED SMALL BALL & WHEN YOUR big BATS are missing you go to your small game. Sometimes you have to create offense, not sit back and wait for the 3 run homer.
the core 4 of pettitte,rivera,jeter.and posada are on their last run.the only one who is somewhat dependable is rivera. i believe in the next year or two you will see a new core 4 of robby cano,jesus montero.manny banuelos,and dellin betances.iam going out on a limb and perdict next years opening day lineup of derek jeter at ss,colby rasmus at cf,robby cano at 2b,alex rodriguez at 3b,mark teixeira at 1b,shin soo choo at rf,nick swisher at lf,jorge posada at dh,and jesus montero at c.with cc sabathia at p.