The first month of the season has come and gone, and usually by now, people start to get an idea of a team’s identity for that year. A team can emerge as an offensive machine as they batter opponents for seven or more runs every game, one whose pitching and defense holds opposing line-ups down on a consistent basis but struggle for run support or one that flops right out of the gate thanks to injuries and under-achieving play.

As far as the ’09 Yankees are concerned, there is one thing about them that stands out more than anything else–more than the new right field that pulls in home runs faster than a super-powered electro-magnet does with scrap metal, more than the resurgence of Nick Swisher and Melky Cabrera and more than the so-so starts from CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Even more than Chien-Ming Wang making Steve Blass feel good about himself again.

RHP Mariano Rivera has carried over his near-perfect control from 2008, but...

The thing that sticks out in my mind about April ’09 for the Yankees is the combustible and maddeningly inconsistent bullpen. On any given night, Yankee fans will see a clinic on how to end a game quickly: the Yankees’ relief corps will either mow down batter after batter or create new combinations of how to blow huge leads. And this phenomenon is not limited to one or two staff members, but has spread like swine flu to everyone.

Closer Mariano Rivera is, of course, the gold standard when it comes to New York relievers and there is no close second. Last year as 38-year-old veteran of 14 seasons, Rivera posted probably his best season ever, going 6-5 and 39 saves with a 1.40 ERA and an unheard of WHIP of 0.67. The man only issued six walks in 70.2 innings across 64 games! He did not issue his first base-on-balls until May 27 against Baltimore, his 20th game of the year. Even Greg Maddux (bow your head in reverence) would briefly look up from his crossword puzzle and raise an eyebrow.

This year, he’s off to a similar start: no walks over 9.2 innings and 10 games while fanning 13 (12.1 K/9 ratio for those scoring at home). But, not all is right and perfect with “Mo” this year.

Rivera has allowed more hits (12) than innings pitched so far, translating to an 11.2 H/9 ratio. Not only that, but he is giving up home runs at a 1.9 HR/9 rate. Before this year, his previous highs in those categories were 9.5 and 1.5, respectively, and both of those came during his rookie year as a part-time starter in 1995. Trends like these certainly do not bode well for many pitchers, even those who are sure first-ballot Hall of Famers.

But let’s give Rivera the benefit of the doubt here. Remember 2005, when gave up that ninth-inning home run to ’04 playoff hero Jason Varitek in his first outing, surrendered five runs on three hits and three walks in a loss to Boston the next day and had given up nine hits and six walks over his first nine games? I sure do. Everyone was claiming his confidence was shot after The Collapse, that the league had finally figured out his cutter and the then-35-year-old was finally starting to show his age. Do you also remember how that year ended?

He finished second in the AL Cy Young voting (which went to a good, but undeserving Bartolo Colon) with a 7-4 record, 43 saves, a 1.38 ERA, a 0.87 WHIP and 80 strikeouts in 78.1 innings. So if Rivera is off to a slow start this year, pardon me while I remain unconcerned. But what is concerning me is everyone else on the staff.

LHP Damaso Marte has struggled with his command, giving up three walks and three home runs, including this one to Victor Martinez on April 16.

While Rivera is his usual self, the rest of the bullpen has come down with some sort of pitching bi-polar disorder. On some days, you can see Phil Coke carve up a team with his mid-90s fastball and darting slider. But on others–seemingly more frequent than not–feature scenes like RHP Edwar Ramirez failing to locate the strike zone or LHP Damaso Marte getting lit up for a home run…at usually the worst possible moment, too.

Those last two pitchers are emblematic of a Yankee bullpen that was counted on being a strength of the team coming into this season. Both have WHIPS well north of 2.00 and have allowed six home runs between them. Yankee relievers as a group have allowed 13 home runs, the same number of big flies allowed by the entire Seattle Mariners’ pitching staff. As of now, the Bombers feature just three regularly used relievers with ERAs south of 4.00: Rivera, Coke and RHP Brian Bruney, who happens to also be on the disabled list. What luck.

And the ERAs of everyone else? Make sure you have a bottle of Pepto-Bismol nearby before reading this:

• Marte – 15.19
• Jonathan Albaladejo – 7.50
• Ramirez – 5.40
• Jose Veras – 7.94

Also, don’t forget RHP Anthony Claggett‘s memorable debut on April 18 when he gave eight runs on nine hits in 1.2 innings (that’s good for a 43.20 ERA, folks) against the Indians. Or the fact that 1B/OF Nick Swisher made his pitching debut at Tampa Bay earlier this season because of another blowout.

All of this put together means this: the Yankees’ bullpen is killing the team. When your relief corps are second-to-last in runs-per-game allowed and save percentage, it casts serious doubt as to whether or not you can sustain a season-long pennant drive, let alone be successful in October. Many Yankee fans and baseball followers have an idea of how to stablize the Yanks’ pen (Mr. Chamberlain to the white courtesy phone, please), but the likelihood of that happening is between slim and none.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s remember one thing: it’s May 1 and the horses aren’t even out of the gate yet. If it’s Memorial Day and the song has stayed the same, though, then “panic” might become an increasingly accurate term to describe the Yankees’ front office.

- Michael Echan