[外電] Wang's return to hill seen as a success

[yyhong68 (come every now and then)]

Wang's return to hill seen as a success
Despite two runs in three frames, sinkerballer sees progress
By Jared Diamond / MLB.com

05/23/09 12:25 AM ET

NEW YORK -- Here's how you can tell just how far Chien-Ming Wang had fallen,
and how difficult his return to the big leagues has been: He allowed two runs
in three innings in the Yankees' 7-3 loss to the Phillies on Friday night,
and his ERA actually went down -- from 34.50 to 25.00.

So perhaps it wasn't the dynamite return the Yankees were hoping for from
their beleaguered right-hander, but on the same day they surprisingly
activated Wang from the disabled list to join their bullpen, he showed
them exactly what they wanted to see.

Improvement.

"His velocity was a lot better," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who
noted the righty had made progress since he was placed on the disabled list
last month. "We saw a lot more good sinkers."

Wang had not pitched in the Majors since April 18, having been put on the DL
with adductor muscle weakness after a dreadful beginning to the season. In
three starts, he allowed 23 runs in six innings and went 0-3. Wang's patented
sinker that the Yankees have grown so accustomed to seeing opposing batters
consistently smack straight into the ground, was staying straight and flat.
This from a pitcher who won 19 games in 2006 and '07.

He finally began to show progress recently, tossing 13 scoreless frames in
two rehab starts with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and was scheduled to
make one final appearance in the minors Friday night in Pawtucket, R.I.,
before returning to the Yankees.

But when starter Joba Chamberlain was hit with a line drive Thursday and
had to exit the game after just two-thirds of an inning, the Yankees
decided to recall Wang immediately and use him as a long reliever --
something he had never done but was willing to try to get back to New York.

"The hitters are totally different, so it's much better to be here," Wang
said through a translator.

One day into the bullpen experiment, he was given his first test. Wang
entered the game in the seventh inning to face the middle of Philadelphia's
lineup with New York trailing, 5-1, and was greeted by a nice ovation by the
Yankee Stadium crowd.

Two batters in, it appeared Wang was up to his own tricks, allowing a
long home run to outfielder Raul Ibanez that landed in the bleachers
beyond the Yankees' bullpen in right-center. The pitch was a sinker that
failed to sink and remained in the hitting zone for Ibanez to drive.

From there, he appeared to settle down, not allowing another extra-base
hit. Although he surrendered five more hits and another run, Yankees'
pitching coach Dave Eiland stressed that many of the hits came on ground
balls that scooted through the infield. For a sinkerballer, that's an
indication his pitches were moving the way they were supposed to. Three
of his nine outs came through the air.

"I saw a lot of things tonight that reminded me of the Chien-Ming Wang of
old," Eiland said.

For one, his velocity was much improved. Wang normally throws between
92-95 mph with his sinker, but had been around 88-90 throughout this season.
Girardi said Wang's pitches were consistently between 91-94 on Friday,
which he said was encouraging. Wang said he was pleased with his velocity and
felt that his sinker was sharper than it was in April.

The next question is what is in store next for Wang. Now that he is back
with the Yankees, it is unlikely he will make another start at Scranton
before rejoining the rotation. Girardi said after the game that Wang is
currently a part of the bullpen, but likely will not pitch again until at
least Tuesday. The club has not yet made any further decisions.

But by all accounts, Wang's return to the Yankees was a successful one,
and the team is cautiously optimistic that he is on the right track. Now
Girardi and Eiland want to see more consistency from Wang. He left one pitch
up on Friday. For the Yankees, that's one pitch too many.

"The bottom line is he was better than he was before," Eiland said.
"That's encouraging. That's progress."

Jared Diamond is an associate reporter for MLB.com.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball
or its clubs.

http://tinyurl.com/orarck

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推 akainorei:improvement, 有進步是好事
推 derekhsu:本來這場就投得不錯了
推 Beretta:至少也有60分及格了  第一場復出又面對超強左打部隊
推 ckbaboon:這篇中肯　搞不懂前面幾篇的討論串在焦慮啥
推 comeasur:看來還要大帝或JOBA爆掉小王才能早日回輪值..不然大概
→ comeasur:暫時被定位LRP...這就是現實 B2B19勝也是要排隊等時機
推 sunalmon:每每看完焦慮討論串都需要這種文章安定一下XD 王葛格加油
推 Sustainer:與其期待別人爆還不如自己不失分 更有可能奪回輪值
推 magita6002:不錯拉~起碼外媒也給予肯定
推 arabesque:comeasur:看完這場比賽我認真覺得他不是看時機而已
→ arabesque:控球還是不夠好。一開始可能有點緊張，當中繼調整幾場
→ arabesque:適應大聯盟比賽好像真的比較好~~
推 dic:這篇看起來比較正面了  呼~~
→ arabesque:只要小王一到位，位置就是他的，真的不用緊張
推 nuker:3局掉2分叫不錯，你們瘋了嗎= ="
→ tom92186:剛回來~難道要9K才叫不錯嗎?????????
推 magita6002:樓上那個應該就太猛了吧XDDDD
推 cloud0123:王表情感覺沒以前冷靜  再加油吧!!
→ tom92186:一些人以為到大聯盟打球很簡單呢XD~酸民真厲害阿
→ soaringfish:tom92186請冷靜，勿再蓄意分化引戰，警告一次。
推 ason:小弟倒是覺得tom兄說的蠻有道理的阿@@...
推 sfen:        覺得tom兄說的蠻有道理 +1
推 Beretta:     覺得tom兄說的蠻有道理 +1  這樣就引戰?到底是誰引戰
推 smalleso:可能他以為9k在影射大弟吧..我也覺得tom說的很ok
推 agmoagmo:感覺他是呼應"3局" 才說要"9k才不錯嗎" tom說的ok+1
推 SevenNoKing: 覺得tom兄說的蠻有道理 +1  這樣就引戰?到底是誰引戰
推 smalleso:喔 原來還有第二句..好吧 是有那麼一點點酸
推 iverson77:TOM說的不錯  小王有進步了 希望可以越來越好
推 fullmax:鄉民都覺得自己可以一個月沒上大聯盟  剛回來就中3局0責失
推 sxxs: 怎麼看都是nukXX引戰  XD
→ leocheng:怎麼都有人認為今天的Phi打線是很好相處的
→ sailla0212:有人可能連PHI是去年冠軍都不知道吧...囧
→ leocheng:認為今天的Phi打線很好相處的鄉民可以打電話給AJ問問看
→ leocheng:而且轟王全壘打的是誰？目前聯盟的全壘打王耶
推 phix:這一場七八局能穩住狀況  沒有形成大局 已經是進步了...
→ phix:看王緊張成那樣 沒有爆表示控球球威還在啦...
推 Mussina7:加上有幾支安打都好可惜 ~
推 provence1978:三振howard那球投的真是好...
→ swimbert:引戰的是說人瘋了的那個
推 lionK13:版主非聖賢...總是會不懂失誤的時候~加油好嘛>.^
推 leocheng:今天有些滑球真的比以前漂亮多了
推 Thalys:Ibanez在水手對王建民成績就不錯了啊~~
噓 derekhsu:nuker引戰卻不警告？這是什麼道理？
推 RichWomen: ====== 別忘了　費城人是去年世界大賽冠軍　======　
→ sailla0212:唉呀~ 就是有人不知道嘛...(攤手)
噓 austin69:我們是那裡瘋了? 今天的確投的還OK呀 沒之前那麼慘烈了
推 ryan1598:有黑箱作業之嫌疑XD? (誤
噓 jeanvanjohn:翔魚嘛，不意外XD
→ jeanvanjohn:(想當年要浸人水桶還要先跟人偷打招呼的~~)
噓 newest:lol
推 Picoro:真不智啊 ... = ="
推 cruising:可憐的原po 被板主帶衰 推回來XD