Green, Mullee aim to build on uneven debuts

PHOENIX — On the December afternoon that the Yankees consummated a deal with the Tigers, acquiring starters Luis Cessa and Chad Green for lefty reliever Justin Wilson, general manager Brian Cashman rested on the desk of a Nashville hotel suite and predicted that the depth would be required in the near future.

The jury is still out on that deal, which had some executives scratching their heads in the lobby, but Cashman’s read on the team’s future needs was prescient. Green made his Major League debut on Monday, pitching into the fifth inning before taking the loss in a 12-2 D-backs victory.

“It was an awesome experience, but I felt like I got some balls up in the zone and they did some damage with it,” Green said. “Overall I made a couple of mistakes that I’m not happy with, but it was OK.”

Given the last few seasons, stockpiling arms may prove to have been wise. When Conor Mullee also debuted on Monday, allowing a sixth-inning run, it was the second time in less than a year that a pair of Bombers hurlers debuted in the same game (also Danny Burawa and Jose DePaula, last June 21).

After Cessa made the Opening Day roster and was later sent back to Triple-A, the 24-year-old Green was plugged into the rotation as something of a calculated gamble, with the Yankees aiming to offer an extra day of rest to Michael Pineda and Nathan Eovaldi.

While his 16.88 ERA this spring was the highest on the club, Green had compiled a 1.22 ERA and a …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com