WHY I'M BRINGING "THE CHIEF" BACK

(Photo: Getty)
As a 22 year old flame thrower whose fastball regularly clocked in the upper-90s, he was known as “El Torpedo.”

Such a name would hardly be appropriate for the now soft-throwing Freddy Garcia, who is lucky to get his fastball over 90 these days and relies almost entirely on a high-70s to low-80s slider and a variety of change ups. However, at the ripe old age of 34 (it’s funny how age is viewed in sports isn’t it?), he has shown that he is still more than deserving of his other nickname: “The Chief.”

As of June 27th, Freddy has a 6-6 record and has posted an ERA/ERA+ of 3.30/123, his best of any full season since 2001 when he led the league with a 3.05/137 mark. The speed’s clearly faded, but the stats haven’t receded at all, and best of all he pitches with a noticeable New York grit.

When the Yankees lost out on Cliff Lee, there were clearly no front of the rotation guys left on the market, it was basically a competition for who could scrape the bottom of the barrel the best. However, Garcia’s name stuck out like a sore thumb amongst a list of has-beens and never-weres. It took the Yankees a while to make the move and sign him, but when they finally did, I felt like they had really made a great choice.
(Photo: Getty)
I couldn’t have possibly expected the results he’s produced though. After posting a 4.64 ERA with the Chicago White Sox in 2010, I expected him to throw his way to a mid to high 4's ERA and eat up innings while the Yanks looked for a replacement around the trade deadline and hoped he was able to not fall too far below .500 playing in baseball’s toughest division. Instead he’s been the 3rd most effective pitcher on the team, arguably the 2nd most with Colon on the shelf. The Chief has been nothing short of a God-send, more so than his .500 record could even possibly indicate. He’s thrown multiple shutouts over 6 or 7 innings, including his first two starts as well as his most recent, and has been able to, for the most part, keep the team close and give them a chance when he wasn’t dominant. Weak run support has killed him a few times, but with Freddy on the mound the Yankees are 7-6 having won his lone no decision, which is more than we could have said with Sergio Mitre in the rotation.

Of course if Phil Hughes and Bartolo Colon both come back from their DL stints in prime condition, either Ivan Nova or Freddy is going to have to get the boot to the bullpen. It’s unlikely they’d demote Nova, he’s shown flashes of sheer brilliance and the Yankees would like to keep him in the rotation and build up his confidence to the point where he can dominate like he’s shown he can every time. In light of this, it’s likely Freddy is going to end the season in the bullpen. However, The Chief is if nothing else a team player, and he’d likely fully embrace a job as a long reliever/spot starter. Having him available to replace a guy and either clean up a mess he’s made on the field or allow him an extra few days off the field could be huge as the aging Colon and inexperienced Phil Hughes fatigue.

No matter what Freddy’s role with the Yankees is, he’ll be a huge asset for the remainder of the season and is in my opinion just the kind of veteran the Yankees needed to add to give themselves a shot at #28. So embrace The Chief, and while your at it, bring back the nickname, he’s definitely earned it.




--Grant Cederquist, BYB Staff Writer

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