On April 13 against Tampa Bay, with the Yankees already down nine runs, Coke gave up three unearned runs in an inning of mop-up work. Under the average leverage index scale, a 1.0 is an average pressure situation. That day, Coke’s appearance earned a 0.0.
In his next appearance, on April 16, Coke retired Grady Sizemore with the bases loaded to preserve what to that point had been a tie game. His average leverage index that day was a whopping 4.11.
Coke said he tries not to get too caught up in which role he is used.
"I feel my role is in the seventh inning, and I’ve got to come in in the second because we have no one else, then I’ve done nothing for my team except hurt my team right out of the chute because of my mental preparation," Coke said. "As a bullpen guy, you’ve got to be willing to do what you’ve got to do."
