A Case For Patterson

Its coming to that point in spring training where the roster needs to get set and the final decisions need to be made. With the bullpen this creates quite the dilemma. There are plenty of quality arms vying for very few spaces, which makes the decision making very difficult. But of all the people vying for spots none have made a case for themselves like Scott Patterson. If you're not familiar with Patterson, he was a Double A pitcher last season who pitched very well. He was resigned by the Yankees to compete for a spot in the bullpen. This spring, he's pitched 6.1 innings, picked up a save, struck out 6 and has yet to allow a walk or a run. Those numbers don't include the two outs he got in the rain shortened game after Albaladejo gave up a thousand runs in the first inning and only recorded one out. With a runner on third, Patterson came in and got the remaining outs without that runner scoring.

The numbers look great, but the hesitation with him is that he doesn't have big league experience, and his stuff isn't all that impressive. He's much like Okajima in that regard. A funky delivery, very underwhelming stuff, but consistantly gets outs. Not only does he get outs, but he throws strikes, and gets a good number of punchouts. In double A last year he pitched 74.1 innings with 91 strikeouts and a 1.09 ERA, only giving up 15 walks in the process. No one else competing for a spot in the bullpen has done what he has done, and you have to reward that kind of effort. If he struggles in the majors, then you send him down, but he definetely deserves to open the season with the Yankees.