Well we all knew that Pavano and Igawa were bad ideas, no one expected Hughes, Karstens and Rasner to get hurt. Additionally Pettitte’s back was balky and Wang had a few issues to start the season. I would think next year we would hold our breath on Moose, but overall we are in better shape with less question marks. Of course if Torre gets fired, Pettitte might retire. Then Joba will probably get put into the rotation at least as a trial and we will still be searching for a bridge to our aging closer.
I still think Igawa might have some value as a lefty in the bullpen. He should have started last year in AAA but someone higher up told Cash to make him a starter in answer to Dice K. We’ve made this mistake 3 times now in the last 10 years. El Duke is the only one of these big news starters we brought in the correct way.
Could you really turn that guy into a starter? To me, he has the stuff to be the world’s best closer. Just fast as hell - confused the heck out of the Tribe batters, everyone swinging too early or too late. But after, what, 5 outs(?) he was throwing at the backstop.
His key is his velocity. If he “tones it down” to 95mph, like CC or Fausto, could he be as effective?
Very impressive, but I don’t see him being used as a long inning anything.
Then again, it might extend his career tremendously if he learned to slow it down.
He apparently has two more pitches that he does not use as a setup guy. He blew through A & AA batters this year as a starter. He and Kennedy both went through every pro level in a single year. There is a great chance he can develop into a starter with some more time. The one time I saw his curveball, it left the batter looking stupid.
I think he is a future closer, but many think he can be an ace. I am not sure which position is worth more, but ask most teams about how hard it is to find a really top notch closer that you trust.
I think you are right about his fastball, he just needs it to setup the hard slider and the curveball to be an effective starter.
His stuff is like Gagne’s around 2003-2004 (a tad more velocity, though), and as well, it’s virtually unhittable. He can pitch three digits then punch out a batter with a 79 MPH 12-6 curve.
But, I agree with you in that I can’t see him being used as a starter or long reliever. His entire approach would have to change. Would he still be the same pitcher? Probably not. Same with Jonathan Papelbon (who doesn’t have the same stuff as Joba).
Torre just took Wang out to put the Moose in. I can’t even begin to understand what’s going on. Wang isn’t pitching well, but why take him out after 1 inning? He’s pitched enough pitches that he certainly won’t be able to play in the next game… I’d think you’d want to stick with your guns. If the Moose lets all these guys get in, I think the runs should be charged to Steinbrenner, not Wang.
Oh, and even if Shoppach totally stole that HBP, I’ll take it. But I’ve got to say, I was really hoping Wedge and Torre would start trading blows over it. Those are two men I wouldn’t mind having on my side in a brawl.
Actually, he’d be Anibal’s brother. Is there a Amilcar?
Can anyone explain the reasoning behind Hispanic kids getting the names of Carthaginian generals? I mean, if i ever spawned, I’d be happy to name a kid Hannibal or Hasdrubal, but I’m a classics nerd.
No closer pitches 100 innings anymore. They top out at 70-80. The truth is that the way closers are used today is really, really stupid.
If Chamberlain is capable of starting, he should start. (Eventually, I mean. Not, like, right now.) It would be insane to use a capable starter as a reliever in any capacity, unless you were willing to use him for over 100 innings and had an excess of starters.
Classical names are pretty common here in Panama. I know several Anibals (Hannibal), not to mention people named Alcibiades, Hector, Aristoteles, Nestor, Melkiades, Baltisar, Nefertaris, Diomedes, and so on.
You know, win or lose, Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling really need to show a little more professionalism. I was just listening to the game as I drove home from rehearsal and the two of them are narrating the action as if they were narrating a funeral service. Good lord, you’re the official radio voices of the most popular sports team in the United States, calling the fourth game of a playoff series in which a team with twenty plus World Championships are matched against a team whose history of futility is so pronounced that they made a movie out of it. With Charlie Sheen. I get that Waldman and Sterling are Yankees fans, but sack up and do your jobs, kids.
What Exit?, this may be hard to believe, but I’ve been rooting for the Yankees since last night. I think the incredible schadenfreude that so many other baseball fans take in watching New York teams lose has pushed me into feeling a sense of NYC solidarity. It figures that for the first time in my life, I’m kind of sort of rooting for the pinstripes and they’re losing.
