Pitching coach Eiland to return Tuesday

Dave Eiland's absence from the Yankees is about to end.

The highly regarded pitching coach, on personal leave to handle a family issue since June 4, will return in time for Tuesday night's game against Seattle at Yankee Stadium.

Manager Joe Girardi made the announcement before last night's game against the Dodgers.

"I talked to Dave last week," said Girardi, who stayed in consistent contact with Eiland while he was away. "Dave was going through some personal things and now he's ready."

Girardi lauded bullpen coach Mike Harkey, who took over Eiland's duties, but said as a staff, something's been missing.

"We function well as a staff," Girardi said. "It's good to be whole again."

The pitching staff, which other than A.J. Burnett has mostly been fine with Harkey in charge, feels the same way.

"We're excited," CC Sabathia said. "It's always tough when a guy has to leave during the season, especially a pitching coach, but we're definitely excited to have him back."

Sabathia and other pitchers, without indicting Harkey, said Eiland's skills at picking up on sometimes minute details have been missing.

"He's good at finding flaws and he's really good at communicating," Sabathia said. "That's something that is hard for a lot of coaches to do. It's going to be good to have him back on Tuesday."

Javier Vazquez had not worked with Eiland before this season. He started horribly but has enjoyed a turnaround the last month and a half, something that started under Eiland and has continued under Harkey.

"The thing that I was doing wrong with my mechanics, he obviously let me know and we tried to correct it," Vazquez said. "He helped me to get through what I was going through."

Sabathia, who hasn't missed a beat in Eiland's absence, going 5-0 in June, said a pitching coach is most valuable between starts. Vazquez, however, said Eiland has been a benefit during games.

"During the game, you're in competition and all that, you kind of forget about things, and sometimes you need the pitching coach to let you know what you're doing wrong," he said.

Perhaps no pitcher will benefit more from Eiland's return than Burnett. He was 6-2 with a 3.28 ERA going into his June 4 start in Toronto, the day Eiland left the team. Burnett allowed six runs in six innings that night, the start of a losing streak that reached five with his loss here Saturday. In that stretch, Burnett (6-7) has allowed 29 runs, 35 hits and 17 walks in 23 innings and seen his ERA climb to 5.25.

Burnett has not used Eiland's absence as an excuse for his poor performance, but Girardi said he hopes the pitching coach's return will be the spark that helps Burnett rediscover what led him to a 4-0 start. Burnett was not available to talk before last night's game because he flew home to attend the funeral of his grandfather, who died Friday.

"It could, and I sure hope so," Girardi said. "It's important for us to get A.J. back on track. If works, that would be great."

Girardi said his understanding is that Eiland won't be leaving again, adding: "I anticipate he's back for good."

Notes & quotes: Chan Ho Park has struggled when he has been asked to pitch more than one inning. On Saturday, he pitched a scoreless sixth before allowing two runs in the seventh, and his previous outing last Monday in Phoenix followed a similar script. Girardi said using him for just one inning "might be something we look at." The Yankees signed Park, who has a 7.04 ERA in 17 appearances, hoping he could give them multiple innings if need be.