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If he is finished managing and gets tired of broadcasting, perhaps Joe Girardi has a future in fortune telling.
The ex-manager of the Marlins, Yankees, and Phillies, Girardi, hinted at a rare subpar performance from Luke Weaver in the YES Network broadcast just moments before the standout reliever allowed the decisive home run in a 5-3 defeat to the Orioles.
Weaver, who had only given up three runs in his first 24 games of the season, conceded two runs in the eighth inning and received the loss in his return game after recovering from a strained hamstring.
Girardi mentioned that ideally, after not pitching for 17 days, you would want to ease a player back in gently. However, due to the tight score of the game on Friday, there was little room for such a strategy, as Weaver threw the crucial 3-2 pitch in a tied 3-3 game.
Moments later, Ramon Urias hit the tie-breaking home run leading off the top of the eighth to give Baltimore a 4-3 advantage.
Weaver retired two of the next four hitters but allowed a hit and a walk and left two runners on base for Tim Hill, who yielded an RBI single to charge another run to Weaver.
Weaver threw 14 of 24 pitches for strikes.
His ERA climbed to 1.71.
Aaron Boone plans to use both Weaver and Devin Williams to close out games.
The job was supposed to belong to Williams, but he was so ineffective early in the season that Weaver took over and was lights-out until his injury.
Williams steadied himself in Weaver’s absence, which only lasted 17 days and was much shorter than initially expected.
During his 10 seasons overseeing the Yankees, Girardi was mostly praised for his handling of the bullpen.
It was one of the rare areas where he was considered an upgrade over legendary predecessor Joe Torre.
Boone’s bullpen management also is a strength.
One of the key tenants is not using relievers three days in a row, though he even broke that rule for Weaver earlier this season in a series against the Rangers.