Yanks Bullpen Lacks Killer Instinct

Before I get too far into this, I still believe the Yanks will win this series.

But after their performance tonight, there’s reason to worry: this team, specifically the bullpen, lacks the killer instinct typical of championship teams.

After that awe-inspiring rally in the top of 7th, the Yankees needed to come out blazing in the bottom of the inning and get that “shut down” frame.

Unfortunately for the Yanks they did anything BUT shut down the Angels. L.A. bounced back with three runs to take the lead en route to a come-from-behind win.

So where does the blame lie? Some might say with Joe Girardi. You could second-guess his move to keep AJ Burnett in to start the 7th inning. You could also argue that Damaso Marte has no reason pitching in this series (I would argue that).

But for me the main issue is the lack of a killer instinct in the bullpen….namely the young guys, Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain.

They appear to be pitching scared. What happened to these guys’ reputations as rear-back and fire type pitchers?

Hughes, invincible during the regular season, is downright bad this postseason. As for Joba, is it just me or does he have a Deer-In-The-Headlights look to him when the camera zooms in on him on the mound?

These guys (and you can probably group a few others from the bullpen in here, too) just don’t have that shut-down mindset you need when pitching out of the bullpen in the playoffs.

That was the hallmark of the championship Yankee teams of the late 90’s and 2000. Currently Mariano is the only holdover from that ‘pen, and he’s the only one still pitching with that mentality.

There’s no doubt it’s disconcerting and the Yankees have done a good job masking their bullpen’s problems with plenty of offense, but tonight the offense fell a little short and it exposed the ‘pen’s vulnerability.

It cost the Yankees tonight, and though it’s a problem that’s not going to correct itself anytime soon, I think the Yankees have enough offensive firepower to render this deficiency moot.

Matt Estreich for The Huddle