One of the pitfalls of the 24-hour, nonstop news media cycle is that thousands of journalists, bloggers, and other "experts" owe their professional existence to having something, anything, to talk about each day, regardless of whether or not anything noteworthy or interesting has actually occurred. This never-ending need to put pen to paper and keystrokes to blog and report or opine on SOMETHING results in a lot of journalistic output that is neither logical, reasonable, or intellectually honest. If you follow politics these days, you should know exactly what I'm talking about.
Now I'll admit, I'm being somewhat dramatic, especially considering I'm only focusing on sports reporting. Nevertheless, this stellar piece of journalism illustrates my point.
First, let's all take a step back. I like Jon Paul Morosi, I really do. He writes some good things for Fox Sports. I'm sure his contract with Fox requires him to write columns on a regular basis, and he's just fulfilling his end of the deal.
But, three days into the season, and after a game in which the Yankees bullpen collectively allowed 1 hit, 0 runs, and 2 strikeouts over 18 pitches during the EPIC 8th INNING, is it really necessary to say things like:
If (Joba) hasn’t pitched well enough to take the (8th inning) job by May or June, the Yankees will be in trouble.
or
That's one reason this will be a turbulent April for the defending champs
??????
22 games are on the schedule this month, and if you figure the MYTHICAL 8th INNING DEITY is only going to pitch when they have a lead of exactly 1, 2, or 3 runs, then we're probably talking about fewer than a dozen total innings. So if I follow Morosi's reasoning, the Yankees are in trouble now, and by implication perhaps for the rest of the season, because they haven't yet established who is going to pitch twelve specific 8th innings in April.
There are a few ways this really COULD be a turbulent April for the Yankees, like if Joe Girardi decides he needs to regularly pull relievers from the game for doing anything less than getting every single batter he faces out. But the present lack of clarity in the 8th inning isn't one of them; its a phony dilemma, something fabricated out of thin air by a finnicky manager and a news media that has nothing better to talk about.