Wang Decision on Yankees' Part?

NEW YORK – Chien-Ming Wang got no decision, which might make one think that is what the Yankees should have made. No decision.

But the Yankees remain comfortable with their decision to re-insert Wang in their rotation in place of Phil Hughes. In fact, they feel they had no choice.

As pitching coach Dave Eiland explained it Thursday after Wang allowed the Rangers five runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, had Wang stayed in the bullpen any longer, there may not have another chance to build his stamina back up to starting range.

"It wasn't a case of, Hughes wasn't pitching good," Eiland said. "Hughes is pitching as good as anybody. Phil Hughes does not deserve to come out of the rotation.

"This guy [Wang] is a proven winner. ... If we had waited any longer to start him, we would have had to [treat it] like spring training."

Wang began Thursday's outing well, retiring eight of the first nine batters he faced. But limited to about 70 pitches, he didn't make it out of the fifth inning.

Of the final 13 men he faced, six got hits and one walked. Nelson Cruz walloped a waist-high sinker for his 16th home run of the year – just the second Wang has allowed to a right-handed hitter since June 23, 2007 – to knock Wang from the game with a 5-1 deficit.

"I thought he threw the ball pretty decent today," manager Joe Girardi said after the Yankees rallied for an 8-6 victory. "I was happy with what I saw.

"This is something we can definitely continue to build on."

A scout in attendance noticed that Wang was "all arm" – perhaps a vestige of his lower-body problems – and not as crisp the second time through the order.

"It's not the Wang we're used to seeing," Texas manager Ron Washington said.

Girardi said Wang will start again Tuesday at Boston with a cap of 85-90 pitches (which could be four innings given the Red Sox's patience).

Getting Wang straightened out could give the Yankees quite the formidable rotation, but his performance so far has been cause for consternation in New York and Taiwan, where he is the nation's biggest celebrity, sports or otherwise.

In four starts and three relief appearances this year, sandwiched around a disabled-list stint for "adductor muscle weakness," Wang has a 14.46 ERA, with 39 hits allowed in 18 2/3 innings.

"Every time, I keep doing more [good things]," he said.

Wang threw 42 pitches in a scoreless three-inning relief appearance last Sunday, so it was the right time to strike – the Yankees figured – to put him back in a starting role.

"If we had waited another week, then his first start would have been 40-45 pitches," Eiland said. "We can't stress the bullpen that way. So this is the time to do it."

The Yankees learned that last year when, to limit the innings total on Joba Chamberlain, they transitioned him from reliever to starter during the season.

Thus Hughes, a 22-year-old who in his previous four starts was 2-0 with a 3.91 ERA, was sent to the bullpen.

"It's just the way things go," Hughes said.

Hughes' bullpen role isn't yet defined (the Yankees need some help in the set-up area, for sure), but Eiland is definitive on Hughes' long-term position.

Said Eiland: "He's going to be a starter here for a long time."