Soriano proves to be Yankees’ saving grace
THE YANKEES have been celebrated throughout this season for their wise choices in adding talent to their bench and pitching staff. Yes, the subs for the injured Alex Rodriguez at third have been raking. Sure, Freddy Garcia has been a solid rotation stopgap.
But no pinstriped fill-in deserves more credit than closer understudy Rafael Soriano, who has only stepped in for a legend by being among the best closers in baseball. Maybe he’s even emerged as the Yankees’ Most Valuable Player.
Hey, no single Yankee is having a monster season, except maybe for Soriano, who finished off the Yanks’ 4-1 victory over the Red Sox Sunday night by getting a double-play grounder with a slider and striking out Adrian Gonzalez after allowing a leadoff single in the ninth inning.
No one is saying, “Mariano who?” But Soriano has been splendid, converting 31 of 33 save chances and holding opposing hitters to a .200 average since replacing the injured Rivera. “I don’t know where we are” without Soriano, Joe Girardi admitted. “You start losing four or five games that you should’ve won, it’s different. And then there are concerns about how you’re closing games out. A lot of guys would feel a lot of pressure in that role just because of who you are replacing. Having to do it this year, with the expectations we have here, he’s handled it great.”
“He knows the ninth inning is his and he wants it,” added catcher Russell Martin. “He’s made pitch after pitch. He’s just focused and he’s taken responsibility. He’s got big shoes to fill and he’s gotten it done. Props to him.”
Soriano also had added poise and levity to the clubhouse, believe it or not, as he’s gotten more comfortable in his second Yankee year. He says he’s having more fun, even when he wasn’t the closer early in the season. “I was throwing the seventh and eighth and I felt much better, like I was having a good time with the team and the fans, so everything’s gone right so far,” Soriano said.
Still, several teammates mentioned that Soriano is mostly reserved and quiet. Even his friend Ivan Nova admits that Soriano “looks like a tough guy, not easy to go to and talk to.” But, Nova says, Soriano is someone he seeks out for advice and Martin admires that Soriano “has some swag to him, just that confident demeanor you like to have on a team.”
Soriano’s confidence can be catching, Martin says. “Some days, you don’t feel so good and you see Soriano walking around and you say, ‘All right, we’ve got this,’ ” Martin says. “You know what I mean?”
“You can talk to him anytime,” Nova says. “He’s a great guy, a real great guy. Not because he’s Dominican, or anything like that. For me he’s the guy that I’m chatting with, trying to learn from him. He has a lot of experience and he gives me good advice, things I should do. He’s always trying to find the answer to anything I ask him.” And Soriano can crack up teammates with a welltimed remark. Sunday, he got laughs with quips about Raul Ibanez being late for the team’s chapel service. He makes Nova laugh by constantly calling him “Rookie.” “A lot of people say or think I’m a crazy guy, but I like to sometimes joke around,” Soriano says. “I do it to everybody here. I like that. I think everybody enjoys it. I like to make the players, the pitchers, feel comfortable.”
Soriano came into the Bronx as the guy pursued by Hal Steinbrenner and team president Randy Levine, not GM Brian Cashman, who made that clear in Soriano’s introductory press conference. He was a frustrated and frustrating setup man who had injury issues in 2011 and he was not the first choice for closer after Rivera’s injury S — David Robertson was. oriano has gotten attention for his ritual of untucking his jersey after finishing off a save, which he did again Sunday night after crossing himself and clapping following the final out.
But there isn’t a lot of other buzz about him. Relievers usually like it that way because a lot of chatter about them usually just means they’re getting hit hard.
In Soriano’s case, he deserves more attention because of how good he’s been in a season when he’s let the Yankees forget about their injured closer and concentrate on their other issues.