Pregame notes: Rotation decision made; announcement after today’s game
Posted by: Josh Thomson - Posted in Misc on Sep 04, 2011 
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The biggest story to come out of Joe Girardi’s press conference this morning had nothing to do with today’s game. Girardi told the media that a decision has been made on which of the Yankees’ six starters will be pulled from the rotation, but he won’t make the announcement until after today’s series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays.
“I’ll probably have it for you after the game,” Girardi said. “I just have to make sure that I tell everyone involved.”
While anything can happen, the expectation is that the decision will come down to pulling either A.J. Burnett or Phil Hughes from the rotation. The odd man out will head to the bullpen.
CC Sabathia obviously isn’t going anywhere, and Freddy Garcia has arguably been the Yankees second most consistent starter. Bartolo Colon has rebounded nicely from a bit of a rough patch, and Ivan Nova currently has the longest winning streak in the majors. Those four appear to be safe.
Burnett has been brutal over the majority of the past two months, but he did have a solid start against the Red Sox on Thursday. Hughes didn’t fare as well against Boston on Wednesday, but he’s shown glimpses of returning to form since coming off the DL. We all know about Burnett’s big contract, but we also know that Hughes is supposed to be a big part of the Yankees future. So, who would you pull?
My quick two cents: I’ve heard many people make the argument that Hughes has more bullpen experience, so it makes more sense to move him out of the rotation. It’s true that Hughes was stellar out of the pen in 2009, but that was as the Yankees set-up man. With David Robertson, Rafael Soriano, Boone Logan, Cory Wade, etc. in front of Mariano Rivera, those opportunities likely wouldn’t be there for Hughes. The bullpen is a strength on this team right now, so whoever gets moved out of the rotation will likely be delegated to mop up duty. It’s not as if either of these guys is going to be moved into a crucial role.
Maybe I’m a little nervous from the whole Joba situation, but it just doesn’t make much sense to me to bounce a player back and forth who you believe has a chance to be a mainstay in the rotation. Yes, Burnett has two years remaining on his contract, but Hughes is still just 25 years old. He’s had some odd issues this season, but it could be extremely beneficial to get him back on track. Burnett has already ensured that he won’t be a Yankee past 2013 — if not sooner.
I guess we’ll find out how the Yankees feel in a few hours.
Here’s some more notes from Girardi’s press conference:
• Mark Teixeira will return to the lineup after missing the past two games with a bruised right knee. He will bat third and play first. “He came in today and said, ‘I’m good to go,’ ” Girardi said. “I didn’t even ask him. He came and said, ‘I’m good to go’ before I had a chance to ask him. I said, ‘Playing first?’ and he said, ‘Yeah.’ ”
• Girardi on what it means to have Tex back: “He’s got so much experience over there, and every play you know he’s going to be in the right spot. Swish does a great job in his absence… It’s good to see him get dirty, and he enjoys playing there every once in awhile.”
• Curtis Granderson is not playing today, but it’s just a normal day off. Brett Gardner will play center field, with Andruw Jones playing left against the left-handed Brett Cecil.
• Jesus Montero will DH and bat ninth. Girardi had him hitting seventh in his first two games. Robinson Cano mentioned that he expects Montero to be more relaxed after picking up his first big league hit yesterday, and Girardi concurred. “I think he’s made some pretty good in-game adjustments,” Girardi said. “After looking poor on the curveball from (Ricky) Romero, in his last at-bat that’s (the pitch) he hit… I thought he had an idea of what he wanted to do up there, and that’s a good sign. You would hope that he would relax, because I think everyone is always anxious to get that first hit. You can throw all of the other things out, just coming up as a rookie, it’s hard to relax. You want to impress everyone and prove that you belong.”
• Girardi says that CC will have no restrictions today, despite throwing 128 pitches (the most he’s ever thrown as a Yankee) in his last start. “He’s done that a number of times in his career,” Girardi said. “We’ll watch him carefully, but we watch him carefully anyway because of what time of year it is. We wanted him to go on his fifth day, and he wanted to go on his fifth day. He said he felt good, and he had a great bullpen the other day.”
• The Yankees will look to remain in first-place and complete a sweep of the Blue Jays today. They currently sit 1/2 game ahead of Boston in the standings. The Yankees record in day games is the best in the majors (36-9), and Girardi had an interesting take on why he thought that is the case. “If I had to guess, and it’s hard to put your finger on it, but sometimes with an older club, families get you up earlier, and it’s not such a long day. I know when I became a parent, I loved day games.”
Jacksquat September 4th, 2011 at 11:48 am
West Coast Yankee Fan September 4th, 2011 at 11:43 am
A Montero-Gardner either or is a straw man.
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No it’s not, if Montero DH’s vs lhp Jones is going to take Gardner’s spot in LF vs lhp. They are not going to DH Montero and have Jones on the bench vs lhp.
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Montero is at DH today and Jones is giving Granderson a spell with Gardner in the lineup. Jones will also give Swisher a spell now and then probably against lefties when Montero will DH, and Gardner will not sit every game against a lefty when Montero will DH. There are plenty of scenarios where Montero and Gardner will both be in the lineup – like today. So I don’t see this as an either Gardner or Montero scenario.
Dann, I wanted Teix to slot into the five spot with Alex batting three. Maybe next year.
oops typo – damn
“It just doesn’t make much sense to me to bounce a player back and forth who you believe has a chance to be a mainstay in the rotation. Yes, Burnett has two years remaining on his contract, but Hughes is still just 25 years old. He’s had some odd issues this season, but it could be extremely beneficial to get him back on track. Burnett has already ensured that he won’t be a Yankee past 2013 — if not sooner.”
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Bingo Josh. Thanks for the logical analysis.
MTU September 4th, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Bret-
The Giants are most likely going to re-sign Cain.
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I’m not so sure. The Giants have stellar front-end pitching even without Cain and plenty of youth along the way. They could use the 18-20 million it would cost for Cain on offense, something they are severely lacking for the future.
jacksquat September 4th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
MTU September 4th, 2011 at 11:56 am
eat 20 mill of AJ’s 30 mill and someone might go for it.
As Blake has said before, better to save 10 Mill than to lose all of it.
Burnett is a #5 .500 Pitcher. Our kids might be able to do that.
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“Our kids might be able to do that” is the reason he’s not worth $5 mil/year to another team. Plus then you are still essentially paying $10 mil/year to whoever replaces him.
The only thing I can see is possibly a bad contract for bad contract trade, although I can’t think of any possibilities off the top of my head
Joba’s inspirational quote of the day:
” Seeing is believing, believing is seeing, have you looked in the mirror lately? Believe in yourself or nobody else will! ”
L . o . l .
The Mercury Strikes Back September 4th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Joba’s inspirational quote of the day:
” Seeing is believing, believing is seeing, have you looked in the mirror lately? Believe in yourself or nobody else will! ”
L . o . l .
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What a dork!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuGf34F0f5g
One month in the bullpen at the end of the season would do almost nothing to derail Hughes’ career as a starter.
Vince/Josh? I agree about the fact that whoever is going to the pen is not going to get meaningful innings. At this point, the Yankees are thinking about this year and this year only……..but I do think they think AJ can still help them, now and going forward.
West Coast,
Just to clarify, I’m not Josh. I’m just signed in as him because I’m not registered yet. This is Vin Mercogliano. Sorry for the confusion. Comment or tweet me if you guys have any questions.
Someone should explain to Joba about the consequences of plagiarism without proper attribution. I doubt he studied homilies at U of Nebraska
Betsy-
I responded to you in the previous thread.
Looks like an agree to disagree.
Bret-
I think they keep him. he’s too good to let get away.
You are right. They seriously could use some offense.
aren’t yanks 1/2 game up on boston, not 1?
Joba Chamberlain sounds like the new Stewart Smalley.
To imply Joba’s injury was due to bouncing from starter to reliever is ridiculous. Pitchers get hurt if they start all the time. Pitchers get uhrt if they relieve all the time. Pitchers get hurt if they trim their own hedges for cryin’ out loud. Injuries happen.
There are no mop up innings in the post-season unless you are in an elimination game and it’s a complete blowout…. ie: game 7 of the 2007 ALCS
jacksquat September 4th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
One month in the bullpen at the end of the season would do almost nothing to derail Hughes’ career as a starter.
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I tend to agree on this. The question isn’t really a long-term versus short-term maximization problem. The crux of the matter is who is a better bet to give us five or more innings per start down the stretch, and who is a better bet to stake a claim to a postseason slot in the rotation. I can see it going either way, because they’ve both been extremely inconsistent (although AJ has been more consistently crappy over the last couple months).
West Coast Yankee Fan September 4th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Jacksquat September 4th, 2011 at 11:48 am
West Coast Yankee Fan September 4th, 2011 at 11:43 am
A Montero-Gardner either or is a straw man.
—
No it’s not, if Montero DH’s vs lhp Jones is going to take Gardner’s spot in LF vs lhp. They are not going to DH Montero and have Jones on the bench vs lhp.
**********************
Montero is at DH today and Jones is giving Granderson a spell with Gardner in the lineup. Jones will also give Swisher a spell now and then probably against lefties when Montero will DH, and Gardner will not sit every game against a lefty when Montero will DH. There are plenty of scenarios where Montero and Gardner will both be in the lineup – like today. So I don’t see this as an either Gardner or Montero scenario.
—
It’s *mostly* either a Gardner or Montero thing. The only way it’s not is if Granderson or Swisher get days off, which is rare, or Swisher moves to 1B, which almost never happens unless Tex is hurt.
girardi will take wussy way out by keeping burnett in the rotation. this moron mistakes loyalty with doing what’s best for the team. and he also needs to stop bunting jeter with gardner on 1st and varitek catching. that crap needs to stop among many other things
MTU,
The Giants are so desperate for offense – look at the position they were in at this year’s deadline…They had to cough up a top prospect to bring in Carlos Beltran for one year. Rowand flamed out. All their role players from their WS team flamed out as well.
I think they’d be smart to allocate as much of their budget as possible to bats or else they will have to deplete their farm system for rentals like Beltran every year. They really can’t afford to put themselves in that position every year indefinitely.
Cain to the Yanks!
Bret The Hitman September 4th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Joba Chamberlain sounds like the new Stewart Smalley.
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Yep. Did you follow the link, or did you make the connection on your own?
I don’t want aj on the PS roster unless he goes lights out in Sept.
In the pen, he will only take the place of someone more worthy.
Phil will not.
There isn’t enough time to get Phil up to mid-season strength so put him where he has succeeded, in the pen, for meaningful innings.
AJ down there is a waste.
If Hughes goes to the pen he will not be a mop up man. That’s silly. He’ll be given a chance to prove he can be important come playoff time. No way wade or Ayala pitches in front of him if he gets his 99 pen form back.
MTU, I love to agree to disagree – better than disagreeing disagreeably!
The biggest sin the Yankees committed with Joba was not returning him to AAA after the relieving stint, next spring. The Joba hype blew common sense out of the water. Boston did it a number of times with Buchholtz, Tampa did it with Price and so on.
Country Club, he’s not pitching ahead of Robertson or Soriano, so if he’s not a long man, he’s at best a 6th inning man…….and unless starters are not good, how often are you going to your pen in the 6th?
Bret-
I see your point about the Giants needing offense. No question about that. I do not know their farm system very well.
I really like Cain. I’d like to see another solid Lefty though.
I’m hoping Banuelos can fill that role (Or Kershaw).
CountryClub September 4th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
If Hughes goes to the pen he will not be a mop up man. That’s silly. He’ll be given a chance to prove he can be important come playoff time. No way wade or Ayala pitches in front of him if he gets his 99 pen form back.
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Whose innings will he take? Soriano’s? Robertson’s? Mo’s? There are only so many meaningful innings at the back end of a game.
Just an example of when Hughes could be useful if he pitches well in the pen was just yesterday when both Soriano and Rivera were out because they both had pitched the previous two days.
If Hughes goes to the ‘pen, Burnett will pitch on a very short leash, particularly in the post-season.
I can easily see AJ having a great September.
He has a goal, a start in the ALDS, and it’s short term enough to focus on.
He is a “walk year” pitcher and he will look at it as such.
He might take a start from Freddy or Colon, who deserve it and might be more reliable, that is my only fear.
Ghost-
I hope we don’t see AJ in the PS.
CountryClub September 4th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
If Hughes goes to the pen he will not be a mop up man. That’s silly. He’ll be given a chance to prove he can be important come playoff time. No way wade or Ayala pitches in front of him if he gets his 99 pen form back.
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Well said. Beyond silly.
Vin/Josh/mystery poster: the Yanks are only 1/2 game ahead of the sawx.
jacksquat September 4th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Just an example of when Hughes could be useful if he pitches well in the pen was just yesterday when both Soriano and Rivera were out because they both had pitched the previous two days.
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Perhaps. But that’s true only for this month. Next month, the Yanks will get days off, and the backend of the bullpen likely won’t be as beat up as it has been of late.
You can’t go to SoRoMo everyday.
Robo had to go 2 last nite.
Phil can be worked in.
He takes Joba’s role ,as well as, be a long man esp for AJ.
Ghost,
Was the link Stewart Smalley?
“Whose innings will he take? Soriano’s? Robertson’s? Mo’s? There are only so many meaningful innings at the back end of a game.”
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Last night was a perfect example. Mo and Soriano were not available and everyone was wringing their hands about Robertson getting overused. Wade was warming up in the pen when Robertson was in there.
Ayala is not a important factor.
He’s as disposable as a old rag.
Cory Wade has a lot more ability. Throws strikes consistently.
MTU September 4th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
Ghost-
I hope we don’t see AJ in the PS.
===============
I’m ambivalent. If he can give us four starts down the stretch like his last start, then Joe will have a tough decision to make. I would rather see Joe having to deal with this kind of a quandary, than an easy leave Burnett off the postseason roster decision.
In the playoffs, that trifecta can and will go everytime the Yankees are in position to win
Bret The Hitman September 4th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Ghost,
Was the link Stewart Smalley?
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Yep!
They will do all they can to cater to AJ.
It could mean Freddy or Colon gets left off the PS or
maybe goes to the pen.
What would Joba have done in the PS?
Ghost-
He needs to “Show us the money”. I hope he can but I don’t think so.
Therefore, I’m thinking he won’t be on. The risk with him is usually very great. Too great for playoff games if there is an alternative. I hope there is a better option.
Mariano, Soriano and Robertson will not be available to pitch every day in the playoffs. Not because they are being careful not to tire them out, but because they won’t be as effective.
If Phil is out there to spell AJ in the 4-5th inng then so be it.
He is still pitching like it’s ST, it’s too late to groom him for a PS start.
mick September 4th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
They will do all they can to cater to AJ.
It could mean Freddy or Colon gets left off the PS or
maybe goes to the pen.
*************
I honestly believe AJ’s salary has a lot to do with this. I do not believe AJ would be on this team, much less in the rotation, if he was paid less.
MTU September 4th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
Ghost-
He needs to “Show us the money”. I hope he can but I don’t think so.
Therefore, I’m thinking he won’t be on. The risk with him is usually very great. Too great for playoff games if there is an alternative. I hope there is a better option.
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I tend to agree, and I think that the Yanks have plenty of alternatives (6 guys for four, maybe three, slots in the postseason). My point is that a big September could put Burnett in the mix.
Ghost-
It could but do you really want to trust AJ just the same ? I don’t.
His performance is just too variable and unpredictable.
I go with CC, Colon, Nova, and Garcia. No AJ. Only way AJ makes it is if Bartolo somehow shows even greater evidence of fatigue.
What if Soriano tweeks something?
Wouldn’t you love Phil down there then?
Hasn’t he looked lights out in the 1st inning lately?
Think…
“I honestly believe AJ’s salary has a lot to do with this. I do not believe AJ would be on this team, much less in the rotation, if he was paid less.”
No that you asked but I think you’re absolutely right.
He’d be gone in 60 seconds.
we have insurance in the starting rotation
now we have it in the pen.
Enjoy the game folks.
Kick butt CC.
How about a dinger for the home town fans Jesus ?
In a way this surplus of Yankee pitching is a tragedy of riches for Girardi. With all of the choices that Girardi has available to set up his rotation AND his bullpen, it opens up a plethora of avenues for folks to second-guess him. He almost can’t go wrong in setting up his postseason rotation and bullpen (almost any combination of his choices would be good). However, if the Yanks lose, then Girardi will have to hear how his all of his choices were precisely the wrong ones to make.
Having choices is obviously a nice problem to have, but in some sense it would be a lot easier on Girardi, if folks could say that Joe had no choice but to go with X, Y, and Z.
“If Hughes goes to the pen he will not be a mop up man. That’s silly. He’ll be given a chance to prove he can be important come playoff time. No way wade or Ayala pitches in front of him if he gets his 99 pen form back.”
I totally agree with you. Listen, as good as Garcia, Colon and even Nova have been for the Yankees, I can’t expect them to give the Yankees 7 innings of great playoff pitching. Therefore, if you can get 5-6 innings from them and then turn it over to a bullpen that includes Mo, Robertson, Soriano, Hughes, Wade and Logan which gives the Yankees a better opportunity to win a game in which our starting pitcher not named CC is matched against a superior starter like Lester, Hamels, Lee and such.
You shorten the game for our starters not named CC and ask them to give you everything they’ve got and then hope to outlast the other team with superior starting pitching with a superior Yankee bullpen.
MTU September 4th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Ghost-
It could but do you really want to trust AJ just the same ? I don’t.
His performance is just too variable and unpredictable.
I go with CC, Colon, Nova, and Garcia. No AJ. Only way AJ makes it is if Bartolo somehow shows even greater evidence of fatigue.
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No, I don’t trust (and I don’t much like) AJ. I’d rather go with CC, Colon, Nova, and Garcia, as you would.
PPl underestimate Phil as a weapon in the pen.
It might only happen once but he could come in the 5th and 6th and bridge the gap to soromo.
They are going to give AJ a chance to pitch himself off the PS roster.
They won’t just demote him…
MTU September 4th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
“I honestly believe AJ’s salary has a lot to do with this. I do not believe AJ would be on this team, much less in the rotation, if he was paid less.”
No that you asked but I think you’re absolutely right.
He’d be gone in 60 seconds.
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The salary and the contract obviously play a role.
Ghostwriter September 4th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
MTU September 4th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
“I honestly believe AJ’s salary has a lot to do with this. I do not believe AJ would be on this team, much less in the rotation, if he was paid less.”
No that you asked but I think you’re absolutely right.
He’d be gone in 60 seconds.
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The salary and the contract obviously play a role.
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However, neither guarantee anything. A big contract didn’t save Kei Igawa’s spot on the Yankee roster.
If Hughes goes to the pen he’ll be what Robertson was early in the yr. He’ll be the guy that comes in when someone is in trouble. Or, Robertson takes that role back over and Hughes pitches the 7th and soriano the 8th.
Hughes was throwing 95 in the 1st inning of the red sox game. If he’s able to throw that hard in 1 inning stints he’ll be very useful.
Right now the yanks only have 2 reliable relievers in front of Mo. Hughes will get meaningful innings IF he’s headed to the pen.
I agree with you Mick.
Look at the 96 WS. The Braves had superior starting pitching in which their starters could go further in games than the Yankees. However, the Yankees had the superior bullpen with their main weapon being a Rivera that could multiple innings along with situation relievers and a closer like Wettland. I think Pettitte was the only one that went deep into any of those WS games. However, guys like Cone and Key gave the Yankees a chance to win their games by keeping them in their games and letting the Yankees superior offense and bullpen steal some games from the Braves.
Right now the yanks only have 2 reliable relievers in front of Mo. Hughes will get meaningful innings IF he’s headed to the pen.
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Again, he would be taking Joba’s role.
If you have iffy starters like Colon, Freddy and AJ wouldn’t it make sense to have as strong a pen as necc.?
Crawdaddy September 4th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
“If Hughes goes to the pen he will not be a mop up man. That’s silly. He’ll be given a chance to prove he can be important come playoff time. No way wade or Ayala pitches in front of him if he gets his 99 pen form back.”
I totally agree with you. Listen, as good as Garcia, Colon and even Nova have been for the Yankees, I can’t expect them to give the Yankees 7 innings of great playoff pitching. Therefore, if you can get 5-6 innings from them and then turn it over to a bullpen that includes Mo, Robertson, Soriano, Hughes, Wade and Logan which gives the Yankees a better opportunity to win a game in which our starting pitcher not named CC is matched against a superior starter like Lester, Hamels, Lee and such.
You shorten the game for our starters not named CC and ask them to give you everything they’ve got and then hope to outlast the other team with superior starting pitching with a superior Yankee bullpen.
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So, if you have a starter (not named CC) that is rolling along through five innings, you would lift him in favor of a guy that was too inconsistent to earn himself a spot on the rotation? I don’t agree with this at all. If your starter is on roll through five, then you let him pitch the sixth, and maybe the seventh. If you don’t need to monkey with the X-factor that comes along with calling the ‘pen, then you don’t do it,unless you have to do so.
Is Hughes such an upgrade over Colon, Freddy or AJ?
He’s just as iffy and 3-4 more starts is not enough to get him consistent.
86w183 September 4th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
To imply Joba’s injury was due to bouncing from starter to reliever is ridiculous.
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It definitely didn’t help.
So, if you have a starter (not named CC) that is rolling along through five innings, you would lift him in favor of a guy that was too inconsistent to earn himself a spot on the rotation?
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Why on earth would Joe do that? If there’s trouble or he’s at 100 pitches after 5 then yes, you can lift him.
“Right now the yanks only have 2 reliable relievers in front of Mo.”
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I count four reliable relievers:
Rivera
Robertson
Soriano
Logan
Wade
# Bo knows September 4th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
The biggest sin the Yankees committed with Joba was not returning him to AAA after the relieving stint, next spring. The Joba hype blew common sense out of the water. Boston did it a number of times with Buchholtz, Tampa did it with Price and so on.
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Yep and now Joba is another arm in the pen.
AJ. Starts, Phil to pen, it’s the simplest solution.
Doesn’t ‘destroy ‘ AJs confidence, phils been there.
His entire season has been screwy , this won’t kill him, he’ll be ready in spring for starter.
People forget Joba looked great this year, he wasn’t just an arm. He’ll be even better mid next year..
You shorten the pen in the PS. Having Hughes out therereduces Wade’s and Noesi’s roles.
Both have no PS experience.
“So, if you have a starter (not named CC) that is rolling along through five innings, you would lift him in favor of a guy that was too inconsistent to earn himself a spot on the rotation? I don’t agree with this at all. If your starter is on roll through five, then you let him pitch the sixth, and maybe the seventh. If you don’t need to monkey with the X-factor that comes along with calling the ‘pen, then you don’t do it,unless you have to do so.”
When Girardi lifts the pitcher will depend on game circumstances. If somebody not named CC gives Girardi six great innings whether he’s pulled before going out for the 7th will depend on his pitch count, is his pitches getting up in the zone, which batters will he face in the 7th and so on and so on. You get the picture.
I’m sorry, if I never see wade I won’t be disappointed
I don’t consider Logan reliable and wade has come back to earth. Logan will pitch because he’s a lefty, but in a close playoff game, lefties are all he’s going to see.
If we never see another post from you, I won’t be disappointed.
# Trigeminal Neuralgia Yank September 4th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
People forget Joba looked great this year, he wasn’t just an arm. He’ll be even better mid next year..
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True but the Yankees need starters…young starters at that. Even though he was good this yr since he went down have you heard anyone say man I wish Joba was in that spot last night or we could really use Joba for this inning.
Bingo CC, Phil will have a role.
Luis Ayala will get bumped from the postseason roster.
mick September 4th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
You shorten the pen in the PS.
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Yes. This means that you go with your three (or fur) big guns out of the ‘pen in the postseason. Right now, that means Logan, Soriano, Robertson, and Rivera. Absent an injury, Hughes isn’t going to be one of the big guns unless he can demonstrate down the stretch that he deserves to be one. His stint in 2009 is pretty much meaningless right now.
For my part, I would use Hughes as a jack of all trades in the postseason (a la Ramiro Mendoza). Primarily in long relief, but in other selected spots in the game.
If I see robertson go two innings or Mo 3 games in a row, yea I wanna see joba , outside of Mo, Robertson , Soriano , everyone else is questionable , hell I’d rather see joba over Soriano . So yes, Phil will fill that role till next year …. Other than the loogy matchup that is over rated
GAME TIME ! ! !