Young pitchers are the hottest commodity in baseball these days, with more and more teams hitching their wagons to their prospect stars every season. The Yankees are one such team, even going so far as to put two of their youngsters off-limits when it came to trying (half-heartedly, if you ask me, but that's a whole 'nother post) to acquire Santana. Philip Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Joba Chamberlain are the three golden boys the Yanks were planning on having shoulder a hefty portion of the burden this year, and unfortunately, two thirds of that Golden Boy Brigade hasn't come out of the gates running at top speed.The aforementioned struggling duo of Yankee Youngsters is Hughsie and I-Ken, whose combined age is younger than Julio Franco. Hughes has had four starts now and Kennedy three, and their pitching lines ain't pretty:
Kennedy: 14 IP, 19 hits allowed, 15 ER, 13 walks, 13 strikeouts
Hughes: 16.3 IP, 25 hits allowed, 16 ER, 10 walks, 10 strikeouts
Now, before we get our collective knickers in a nasty bunch at the sight of those frightening numbers, let's remember that it's still April and three or four games is a very small sample size. Both Hughsie and IPK displayed superior talent last year and their poor performances thus far this year shouldn't negate the talent we all saw. Only time will tell, b ut I think it's far too early to be panicking. These two will be just fine.
Moose, on the other hand...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-21-2008 @ 7:24PM
nyranger26 said...
YC, you know what?..I'm sick and tired of people saying.."it's still early". Understand something,these
BULLSH*T losses that the Yankees are giving us count as that...LOSSES!!! These games are just as important as the Sept. games.
Hughes and Kennedy are garbage.They should have given up one or the other for Santana.Look at what Johan has done so far this year against these 2 jokes.Kenn/Hughes are nothing but AAA pitchers and they belong back in Scranton.To late now to do anything about it.We'll just have to cross our fingers and pray three games in a row when Hughes,Kennedy and the softball pitcher Mussina take the bump....and please,I'm beggin' you, don't get me started on Moose
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4-21-2008 @ 7:44PM
Brewers Baseball said...
While its true that these games are important, its also true that young players tend to settle down as the year goes on.
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4-21-2008 @ 8:59PM
JDBoston said...
YC, good to see you back. Gee wasn't it just 2 years ago we started 11-19? Patience, patience, patience. It will be all good. I only start getting concerned when Del Mar and Saratoga open.
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4-21-2008 @ 10:17PM
Ralph Garcia said...
Hughes and Kennedy just need to get command of the strike zone and cut down on walks. You see how already they've walked as many batters as they've struck out. First of all, they need to get ahead on the count on the first pitch. That's not easy teaching a young pitcher. They think if they throw the first pitch right down the plate the batter is going to hit it for a home run. What will take care of that is on an at bat if they throw at least one off speed pitch inside toward the hands(not toward the batter's head or legs but inside near his hands). This time of the year if the batter swings and hits it, it's going to feel like bee stings. Also if a pitcher gets ahead with two strikes and no balls on the count, he should waste a pitch outside with a whole different pitch. It shows the batter a number of pitches. It gets the hitter wondering what is he going to throw next? Hughes and Kennedy have to change their mentality and rememeber they still have eight guys on the field backing them up if a player hits the ball. I think it's a matter of time that they win. Remember last year when Hughes warmed up and threw a 96-mile-per-hour pitch to A-Rod at an intersquad game. A-Rod was surprised and backed out of the plate thinking, "who is this guy?" It means that he has a great live arm and electric stuff.
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