Bryan Mitchell Named to Yankees Opening Day Roster, But Was He Snubbed?

With just five days to go before the New York Yankees open up their season against the Houston Astros, plenty of players are still battling it out in spring training for a chance to make the 25-man roster.

However, Joe Girardi announced that 24-year old right-hander Bryan Mitchell has secured his spot on the opening-day roster, and will likely pitch out of the bullpen.

"“He’s a guy that’s pitched extremely well,” Girardi told George King III of the New York Post. “He’s going to be with us one way or another.”"

While I’m certainly happy for Bryan Mitchell and envision the Yankees using him as a versatile bullpen arm who can spot-start for a starting pitcher in emergency situations like Adam Warren did last season, I still believe Bryan Mitchell should be the Yankees fifth-starter over the veteran CC Sabathia or right-hander Ivan Nova.

So far Mitchell has pitched in five Grapefruit League games, including three starts and two relief appearances, tallying a 0.61 ERA while striking out 11 and walking just one.

Compared to the other two pitchers competing for the fifth and final rotation spot, the numbers are like night and day.

Following his last start and final appearance of the spring on Tuesday against the Pirates, 35-year old southpaw CC Sabathia pitched to a 1-3 record with a rather high 5.51 ERA after allowing 20 hits and recording 10 strikeout in 16.1 innings.

Ivan Nova on the other hand pitched to an almost identical 5.50 ERA, allowing 18 hits while striking out 13 in 18.0 innings, but the 29-year old right-hander will have one more chance to impress skipper Joe Girardi this spring when he takes the hill against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

But as many suspected before camp opened up, the competition for the fifth starter was never about who out-pitched the other or who impressed Joe Girardi or Larry Rothschild more down in Tampa. Instead, it was always CC Sabathia’s spot by default, and barring any type of spring training injury or bizarre setback, no one really had a chance other than Sabathia to be named the teams fifth starter. It was never an option for the Yankees to pay Sabathia $25 million to pitched out of the pen.

Yes, I believe in loyalty, and yes Sabathia will be pitching in his 16th major league season with incredible accolades under his belt including a Cy Young Award and of course a World Series ring from 2009 that he won with the New York Yankees, but something needs to be said about putting the best team on the field and giving your team the best chance to win every time they take the field.

While I appreciate everything Sabathia has ever done for the Yankees while donning the pinstripes and I will continue to root for him while he empties whatever he has left in the tank, the Yankees best chance of winning every fifth-day is with Bryan Mitchell on the hill, not Sabathia.

What do you think Yankee fans? Let us know in the comments below.