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I agree.  It would be irresponsible and an egregious failure of duties to trot Garcia out there again.  He's simply not a competitive MLB pitcher at this point.  83 MPH doesn't cut it if you're not absolutely picture perfect.  He only lasts an inning or two, and he puts an enormous strain on the bullpen.  The Yanks will have to carry 15 pitchers if Garcia remains in the rotation.  This was obvious after the Minnesota start when he gave up like seven straight hits in the 1st inning and the Twins got hit after hit with two outs and RISP.  When Jamey Carroll and Ryan Doumit are tatooing you, there's something wrong.  It's miraculous that the Yanks have managed to go 2-2 in his four starts.  He puts them in an impossible hole every time out.

In retrospect, it was a poor choice picking Garcia over Colon.  I know Colon was out of shape, injured, and faded in August and Sept. last year, but during the heart of the season - May through July - he was a "lights out" ace.  He was throwing mid-90's and painting the black.  He was a strike throwing machine.  I remember A-Rod saying it was like having a second number one starter, like having another Cy Young "ace" out there.  There was a stretch where he was tossing eight innings of shutout, no walk, nine strikeout ball start after start.  The run he got going last year enabled the Yanks to accumulate an incredible won-loss record.  They actually miss him a lot now.  Even if Pettitte returns to form, he won't be throwing the same "stuff" Colon did during the heart of last season.

Garcia put that three run home run ball on a tee !!!!  

He needs to get his walking papers, he's a sure bull pen killer, as well as a sure lose unless the bats can score at least 7-8 runs every time he starts a game..

Apr 28, 2012 -- 8:05PM, JoeGNJ wrote:

Apr 28, 2012 -- 8:03PM, grudz wrote:

Yeah, but the difference is that Colon's got REALLY good stuff, and even though he won't last, he'll give you at least a bunch of "lights out" starts - a stretch of real easy wins to pile up the W-L record.  When you throw Colon out there and he's "on," you feel you've got a great chance of winning.  Did anyone feel Garcia had a great chance of pitching a good game today?  Heck, going in, it felt like the Yanks would need at least 10 runs to win.  Has there ever been a more lopsided matchup than Garcia vs. Prince Fielder, or Garcia vs. Miguel Cabrera?

Colon gassed out last season...that spells "enough" IMO.

He sure did "gas out" in August and Sept.  But he was darn good for that three month stretch there.  I'll take that again.  Joel Sherman wrote that the fact that he pitched so much in winter ball last year trying to "prove himself" again may have led to his wearing down.  He didn't pitch winter ball this year, so he may last longer.  He's been pretty darn good for Oakland so far.