Mitre to make his next turn

Joe Girardi said after last night's game that Sergio Mitre will make his next turn in the rotation.

"He threw the ball well," Girardi said. "His miscue cost him a really good outing, in a sense. You're looking at just a couple of solo home runs and that's basically it."

Right.

It's nitpicking complaining about the fifth starter on a first-place team, but Mitre is a below average fifth starter at this point. While the Yankees are 3-2 in his starts, he hasn't pitched more than 5 2/3 innings. Last night, Alfredo Aceves, one of Girardi's most trusted relievers, had to pitch four innings. Whatever the reasoning, Aceves is out until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.

In his latest column on FoxSports.com, Ken Rosenthal notes that recently-signed pitcher Russ Ortiz could be the next option for the Yankees should they decide to remove Mitre. Apparently, Ortiz can ask for his release after three starts. Last Thursday, in his first and only start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he threw six shutout innings. While Ortiz instills as much confidence in me as Mitre does, he's another arm to throw against the wall.

It's really just about eating innings at this point and praying the important starters don't get hurt. Watching Mitre throw games away - literally - is frustrating as hell. But if you continue to get good starts from the other four starters, you'll be in good shape.