Joe Girardi should be back next season. His pitching coach will not.
General manager Brian Cashman made the first offseason change to the Yankees yesterday, letting Dave Eiland go after more than a decade with the organization. Cashman said the move was not related to the Yankees’ 6.58 ERA in the AL Championship Series loss to the Rangers nor to A.J. Burnett’s disappointing 10-15 season, which began turning for the worse in June when Eiland was away from the team due to a personal matter.
“He’s not being blamed for what took place and how bad we pitched. I can honestly tell you that. I?hope you believe me,” Cashman said. “He should have no problem getting a job
In Eiland’s three years as a major league pitching coach, the Yankees finished the regular season with earned run averages of 4.28 (ranking 15th in 2008), 4.26 (12th in 2009) and 4.06 (15th in 2010).
Maybe Eiland’s job would still be safe if he had a healthy Andy Pettitte. Girardi revealed Pettitte was injured during the postseason. In Game 2 of the AL Division?Series, the all-time leader in postseason wins pitched through back and hamstring injuries. Those setbacks bumped up Phil Hughes in the ALCS rotation, where he pitched Games 2 and 6 — both losses.
“In the seventh inning, Andy’s back started locking up a little bit. His hamstrings got really tight. He gutted it through the seventh inning for us and got through it. He wanted to go back out for the eighth,” Girardi said “I think he had about 88 pitches. And I said, ‘No, you’re not going back out. You’ve done your job.’”
