Farnsworth Happy About Fresh Start

Kyle Farnsworth always seemed to have some excuse for the failings he suffered in his first two seasons in the Bronx. It included blaming Joe Torre for having a lack of faith him in. But which came first, the poor pitching or the lack of faith, and did one feed off the other?

Well Farnsworth can relax now. Big bad Joe T is 2,500 miles to the west, and Joe Girardi is giving Farnsworth a clean slate. So has pitching coach Dave Eiland, who told Farnsworth that he doesn't know or care about what happened before. Eiland has also made some adjustments to the big right-hander's mechanics, getting him to take the baseball out of his glove sooner during his delivery. Eiland feels it will keep Farnsworth more balanced through his delivery and will make him much more accurate in hitting his spots.

"It went pretty well," he (Farnsworth) said yesterday after walking a batter, who was caught stealing, and getting a strikeout. "Everything I was missing was down."

"Today everything felt nice and easy and free."

Girardi, who helped Farnsworth out when they were teammates on the Cubs, has also constantly praised the reliever this spring. Having Girardi in his corner hasn't been lost on Farnsworth who caused Torre to get in his face after he stormed off the mound in a game last season.

"I was a young kid coming up," Farnsworth said. "He looked out for me, took me under his wing."

Farnsworth also feels better physically and more mentally prepared than he ever has since coming to New York. Now he's got to prove it to his manager, pitching coach, teammates, and oh yes, the fans.

Source: Ed Price - Star Ledger