Losing Mariano Rivera Hurts, Doesn't It?

During the month of April, the New York Yankees' bullpen was spectacular. Rafael Soriano had a 1.29 ERA. Boone Logan had an 0.96 ERA. Cory Wade was at 1.69. David Robertson, the set-up man and prospective future closer, had an ERA of, well, 0.00. Unscored upon. The great Mariano Rivera was arguably bringing up the rear with his pathetic 2.16 ERA, though the only runs he had given up were the two in a blown save and loss on the Yankees' Opening Day. So, a good bullpen. But then Rivera got injured, tore his ACL shagging fly balls prior to a game, and went down for the season. That led the Yankees to basically promote each of their relief pitchers, with Robertson becoming the closer and a chain reaction taking place behind that. So, how'd that go?

Well, so far in the month of May, Soriano's had a 3.86 ERA. Cory Wade, 3.38. Boone Logan, 3.68. And David Robertson was working on a 10.80 ERA before he, too got himself injured, straining a muscle in his ribcage. These four relievers went from a collective 0.95 ERA in April to a 4.56 ERA in May. It's not just the loss of Rivera directly that's hurt the Yankees, not just the fact that they don't have him available to pitch the ninth inning. It's that, with everyone yanked (so to speak!) out of their accustomed roles by his sudden injury, each of the remaining relievers has gotten worse. A lot worse.

Speaking as a Mets fan, I can only say that it's going to be fun watching the late innings of Yankees games for the rest of this season. For the first time in my memory.