Saturday, April 16, 2011

WHY I'M CRANKY ABOUT PITCHING

Waking up after the Yankee loss always sets me off. I'm never happy for the first 2 hours after I wake up, usually because it was the last thing I thought about when I went to bed. Couple that with a lot of pitching question marks and I may feel like this all day, unless the Yankees win today.

I'm not sure why this happens to me, my mind is constantly trying to puzzle together pitching ideas like I'm supposed to get a call from Brian Cashman at any moment and I need to be ready.(photo: The Star-Ledger)
The Yanks need to do some rejiggering. They need to think about lefty specialists, Phil Hughes dead arm issue and if pitchers like Bartolo Colon, while he deserves a shot at starting a game, will he be able to sustain a full season, or will he break down by June. Yes, Colon has been a life saver relieving Phil Hughes all three times Hughes had issues. Right now, if I were to take a BYB poll, the majority of you would say give Colon a shot. But what happens next? Say Colon is the starter and say Colon can't get past the 3rd? Now, Colon can't relieve Colon if Colon doesn't have a solid start. See what I mean? Who's the next long man "Colon"? Millwood? Garcia? Silva? Robertson? Noesi? I'm just asking, because that's going to happen once in a while.


Now, I have to say,Lance Pendleton impressed me last night, and while I rarely suggest going to the youngsters in that kind of role, I think the idea that it's April and we needed to rest some of the guys in the bullpen helped ease my concern. Handing the ball to Pendleton was a good move. He stopped the bleeding and the Yanks nearly came back in what I described as a sloppy game.



(photo: Daily News)
Also, there's Feliciano. I didn't want to get involved in the Pedro Feliciano conversation because it's just way too annoying to me. Cashman blames the Mets for Feliciano's "abuse" and Pedro says he was injured with the Yanks. I say, "The guys injured, let's get a lefty." You say: "There aren't many lefty specialists out there." I say: "Do you really want to trust Boone Logan in that role?" You get silent.

There really isn't a choice. Cashman needs to find someone and if he can't we're stuck with what we got. He needs to at least look around and see what he can find. That's what Cash is supposed to do.

And that brings me back Phil Hughes. Me, personally, I don't think we have to act like this is the end of our young phenom. Everyone else, for instance, like Bob Klapisch has done it again writing this doom and gloom headline:


Phil Hughes is someone the Yankees have wanted in their rotation for years. He was compared to Roger Clemens for a while. He is someone who they love and want to see blossom and last year, they took the training wheels off and he won 18 games. He is clearly the Yankees "Golden Boy". I don't think they're about to give up on him that's why they acted so quickly this season. I, once again, hate the way the sports writers are portraying this "dead arm" issue like it's the end of the youngster's career. He can and will get fixed. The Yankees have taken baby steps with Hughes for years and they have a lot invested in the lad. They will continue to guide him, as long as it takes. So to the Hughes fans out there, don't listen to negative sports writers who act like they have it all figured out. It's simple logic and anyone can see the Yanks continued interest in the kids well being, to put it simply, helping Hughes helps them.

Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

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