Girardi: Coke’s a reliever

Even though the team told him to prepare for the season as a starter, Joe Girardi told PeteAbe today that the Yanks plan to use Phil Coke out of the bullpen. “He’s a guy we see being able to pitch multiple innings out of the bullpen. That’s how we’re going to try and develop him,” said the manager. Unlike Joba Chamberlain, who can legitimately go after hitters with four pitches, Coke’s bread-and-butter is a fastball-slider combo that plays up significantly out of the pen. His changeup is decent, but he doesn’t project to be anything more than a back-end starter, something the Yanks have plenty of in Triple-A. It’s good to see that the Yanks realizes he’s more than just a LOOGY.