sweetcharmedlife wrote on Oct 28
th, 2009 at 10:18pm:
Cliff Lee can't pitch every game right?
AnalysisPhillies May Be Tempted to Pitch Lee on Short Rest
The Yankees have not announced their rotation past Game 3 of the World Series, but their plan is fairly obvious. Their quest for a 27th championship has revolved around maximizing how many times their hulking ace, C. C. Sabathia, can pitch. They were smitten by how Sabathia volunteered to pitch on short rest for Milwaukee last season, and enriched him with $161 million so he could bring the same accountability to the Bronx.
He is on schedule to start Game 4 on short rest and, if necessary, Game 7, too. The potential pitfall for the Yankees is that the Philadelphia Phillies are considering the same program for Cliff Lee, who outdueled Sabathia in Game 1 on Wednesday and dissected the Yankees in a 6-1 victory.
Everyone on the Phillies was willing to praise Lee for his best outing in a postseason loaded with them. He has now gone 18 1/3 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. But no one — at least those with input on the matter — was eager to discuss whether it was tempting to send him out Sunday night for Game 4.
“We’re not worried about Game 4,” said Rich Dubee, the Phillies’ pitching coach. “That’s a ways down the road.”
The Phillies have two days to decide, and it is possible that the outcome of Game 2, when Pedro Martinez opposes A. J. Burnett, will play a role along with Lee’s pitch count in Game 1, which was 122. But they have been batting around the idea for about a week, ever since clinching the National League Championship Series in five games allowed them to align their rotation as they desired.
Manager Charlie Manuel, who was noncommittal Wednesday night, acknowledged the possibility last week. Lee has never pitched on short rest, but that would hardly prove a deterrent. Just as Chase Utley would never admit to playing hurt — even if bones were protruding from his leg — Lee is not the type to shy from a challenge. In his mind, he is physically capable of anything and everything, as his 3-0 record and 0.54 earned run average this postseason suggest.
“This is the same game I’ve been playing my whole life, and this is the stage that I’ve wanted to get to from a little kid,” Lee said. “Now that I’m here, I’ve already put all the work in. There’s no sense being nervous and worried. It’s time to go out there and let my talents and skills take over and execute pitches.”
The Phillies are happy with their rotation depth and would have no qualms sending out J. A. Happ or Joe Blanton, who is 0-3 with an 8.18 E.R.A. against the Yankees, to start Game 4, and then Lee on normal rest in Game 5. They are also cognizant of Lee’s mounting workload — 265 innings and rising — and must balance the risk and reward of setting him up for two more starts, not one.
“You know, you always are tempted to do something like that,” Brad Lidge said, adding later: “We kind of have to see things play out. I don’t know. He’s doing so well with whatever he’s doing, I’d just let it go.”
In each of the Yankees’ two previous World Series appearances, in 2001 and 2003, their opponent gambled — and won — by bringing back its overpowering ace on short rest. Bob Brenly, a rookie manager with Arizona in 2001, made the aggressive move of starting Curt Schilling on three days’ rest for Game 4 with the Diamondbacks ahead in the series. Schilling pitched well in an extra-inning loss and was available to come back in Game 7, which Arizona won.
Florida Manager Jack McKeon employed a similar strategy for Game 6 in 2003, turning to Josh Beckett with the Marlins leading, 3-2. With the series back at Yankee Stadium, McKeon prevented the Yankees from potentially gaining momentum against a lesser pitcher, and Beckett clinched the title with a five-hit shutout. Both Brenly and McKeon were managing underdogs and, as such, might have felt even more emboldened to use cutthroat tactics.
Manuel feels no such pressure: his team is the defending champion. Unless the Phillies were to sweep the Yankees, they would need a fourth starter at some point, anyway, because pushing Martinez to start on short rest is unfeasible. They would follow the blueprint set by Arizona, when its fourth starter, Miguel Batista, pitched Game 5, before giving way to Randy Johnson and Schilling.
The Yankees are prepared to go with a three-man rotation in this series, especially because their primary No. 4 starter candidate, Chad Gaudin, has thrown one inning over the last four weeks. Even though Burnett and Andy Pettitte did not pitch at all on short rest this season, they were refreshed by time off in September. Sabathia, who stymied the Angels over eight innings in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, welcomes another opportunity.
“I’ve pitched a lot with three days’ rest and figured out how to do it,” said Sabathia, who is 3-1 with a 1.01 E.R.A. in four regular-season starts on short rest. “I’m pretty confident I can do it again.”
He did not pitch poorly in Game 1, as the Phillies, aside from Utley, who homered twice, were 2 for 23 against him. But Lee upstaged him, mixing five types of pitches for strikes in a nine-inning masterpiece that prompted Yankees Manager Joe Girardi to search hard for a sliver of positive news.
“One thing,” Girardi said, “is he can’t pitch every day.”
Maybe not. But he can pitch in Game 4. The question now is, will he?
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