3.7.08 Baseball Wrap

• Yankees reliever Kyle Farnsworth claims that his problem in the past was Joe Torre. He told NYPost reporters: "I always have confidence in myself. But it's tough when you do lose the confidence from your manager to maybe prepare yourself, day in and day out when you have no clue about anything. It happened a few times last year. [...] They never came up to me and asked me [about working consecutive games]. I don't know where that came about." Well, some quick fact checking reveals the following about the Farns:
  
  
  0 days rest: 7.11 ERA
  1 day rest: 5.47 ERA
  2 days rest: 2.70 ERA
  3-5 days rest: 3.64 ERA
  
  
  Hmm. Actions speak louder than words, Kyle If you're a changed man, show us in April.
  
  
• Despite a ST loss for the Yankees against the Astros today, Mariano Rivera threw eight pitches during his work in the fourth, which included two strikeouts. The Sandman appears to be in excellent shape.
  
  
• Santana is gone, you say? Perhaps it isn't so bad, after all. Fransisco Liriano started for the Twins against the Red Sox this afternoon, throwing for 1.2 innings with 2 H, 1 BB, and 1 SO. This is definitely encouraging news, especially against a pretty stacked Boston lineup.
  
  
• Speaking of Boston, Clay Buchholz and Jon Papelbon did not have stellar outings. Clay gave up three runs (two homers) over just as many innings, and Papelbon similarly surrendered two runs over two. Perhaps they were just experimenting as Dice-K was known to do last Spring?