Yankees' Girardi critical of WBC pitcher usage

New York Yankees skipper Joe Girardi has joined those who think pitchers need to be used more delicately during the World Baseball Classic.

Earlier Tuesday, New York Mets brass expressed disappointment with how often closer Jeurys Familia has been used.

Girardi doesn't think the tournament should be cancelled - he's a fan of the event - but he does think some changes need to be made, David Lennon of Newsday reports. Girardi thinks the WBC should be split in half and held months apart to ease the potential strain. He also doesn't want to see pitchers, like Yankees reliever Dellin Betances, rushed.

"That’s our concern about pitchers. You’ve got to make sure they’re brought along slowly," Girardi said.

The rules state that a pitcher is limited to 65 pitches in the first round of the WBC, followed by 80 pitches in the second, and 95 for the championship round. If a player pitches in consecutive days, he is required to receive a day off after.

Girardi sees this as a potential problem.

"You hope that guys don’t necessarily have to throw two days in a row this early," Girardi said. "But you get an extra-inning game, and then you can only use so many guys, and it becomes tough."

Betances has only thrown 28 pitches over two innings of work for the Dominican Republic so far at the WBC.