[外電] Bradley: Former Yankee Chien-Ming Wang has a chance to r

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Bradley: Former Yankee Chien-Ming Wang has a chance to recapture glory
Published: Tuesday, September 13, 2011, 4:00 AM
By Jeff Bradley/Star-Ledger Columnist The Star-Ledger

NEW YORK —

When Brian Cashman thinks of Chien-Ming Wang, of course he thinks of the
Taiwanese right-hander’s back-to-back 19-win seasons for the Yankees in
2006 and 2007. But what the Yankees general manager thinks about more than
those two seasons are the years the Yankees spent developing Wang after
signing him as a 20-year-old.

“He became a No. 1 starter,” Cashman said Monday. “And I argued on his
behalf when people told me I was wrong about that.” Cashman knows the
argument against Wang as a No. 1 was always his low strikeout totals.
Still, he’s not swayed. “His power-sinker made him a ground-ball
machine. He ate innings for us. A fierce competitor. The total package.”

Tonight, against the Mets at Citi Field, Wang will make his eighth start
of the season for the Nationals. It’s just Wang’s eighth start since
the Yankees did not tender him a contract after two injury-filled seasons,
and a surgical procedure on his shoulder in July 2009. “It’s astonishing
to me that he’s back on the mound,” Cashman said. “But it’s a credit
to the type of person Chien-Ming Wang has always been. Our medical staff
rated his chances of returning at about 30 percent, which we felt was too
great a risk. Based on that information, we could only offer him a
minor-league contract with incentives.”

The Nationals, however, rolled the dice. In February 2010, they signed
Wang to a one-year, $2 million contact. And while Wang did not throw a
single pitch last season, the Nats offered him another year and another
million this season. Finally, in late July, Wang took the ball. He carries
a 2-3 record and a 4.43 ERA into tonight’s start.

The Nats lost Wang’s first two starts, then won his next three.
They’ve lost Wang’s last three starts heading into tonight. In most
of his starts, he’s been good if not great. But for a pitcher who
wasn’t sure he’d ever throw in a game again, it’s all good.

“I was worried that I’d never pitch again,” Wang said through a
translator.

“But I was really only left with two options. One was to give up. The
other was to work.”

While that seems like a no-brainer for a pitcher who just turned 31 in
March, the history of pitchers being able to return from the surgery he
had in 2009, to repair a torn capsule, is not great.

It was also not the first time Wang had undergone shoulder surgery.

As a Yankee farmhand, he missed the entire 2001 season after surgery.
There’s often a fear when pitchers need to have a procedure performed
in an area that’s already been treated.

Basically, the warning lights are always on. That’s why the Yankees
passed on him.

“The rehab was very tough,” said Wang, “But I feel like I’m close
to being back to the pitcher I was with the Yankees. Once my velocity
picks up, I think I’ll be fine.”

Wang says he feels indebted to the Nationals for taking a chance on him,
and hopes to return to pitch for them next season, even if it means taking
a step back in salary.

He knows if Stephen Strasburg continues to be as good as advertised, he
will never have to be the No. 1 Cashman believed he was four years ago.
“It’s funny,” said Cashman, “but internally, we had Chien-Ming Wang
and Robinson Cano rated as our top two prospects years ago even though
there wasn’t a lot of statistical evidence to back us up.” The
Nationals now hope he can be an under-the-radar contributor to their
construction project.

Nationals manager Davey Johnson said, “I’ve seen progress every time
he’s gone out there. Sometimes he’s had problems with the consistency
of his sinker, and some games he’s started off getting hit pretty hard.
I think a lot of it has to do with not trusting that he’s fully
recovered from the injury. I think these starts are very important
for him.”

Wang’s sinker, when it was most devastating four and five years ago,
crossed the plate at 93 and 94 miles per hour and wore out hitters’
psyches. It was a pitch that enabled him to rack up groundball outs
in the teens start after start.

“I have seen signs of him getting back to that level,” said Johnson.
“But you’re looking at a guy who’s been out two years with a severe
injury. It would be easy to be judgmental. But as a baseball man, I’m
seeing progress. If he can make the rest of his starts and have a winter
to continue building the trust in his arm, I think the best is yet to
come.”

If that happens, the Yankee GM will applaud. “It would be a great
comeback story,” Cashman said, “if he came back to anything close
to the pitcher he was for us.”

Jeff Bradley: [e-mail]; Twitter.com/jerseyjbradley


http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2011/09/bradley_former_yankees_chien-m.html


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※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) 
◆ From: 140.109.23.99
推 casko:現金人講話了
→ puzzler:假郎告搞
推 ptyan:看完真的覺得國民揪甘心
推 jjsakurai:很實際的cashman很好心的國民隊staff
推 svince88:大家都是做GM該做的事
推 aval:現金人竟然用到astonishing，那他根本不太認為王有機會再投
推 rock1986:現金人省小條開大條阿
推 Sizemore24:$man 當初是看醫療團隊的報告後才做決定。
推 ccwu59:現金人的決定很合理啊, 就算能回來, 花幾百萬養傷根本不合
→ ccwu59:只能說, 國民隊的判斷有誤
推 Aroman:當初還不是 養一個超級痛痛人
推 sid12345:糟糕 八卦版看多了 任一個外文乍看之下都是維基解密.....
推 USBv2:其實大家常把焦點放在$man和NYY多麼得.......
推 Kingkuo:預估能重新投球機率百分之三十...=  =
→ USBv2:但我個人倒是認為 若不像王建民這麼認真復健 換作是其他人
→ Kingkuo:那能回來真的很不容易XD
→ USBv2:可能就真的回不到現在這種程度了  猶記去年民視放出的訓練影
→ USBv2:片 有些球員會趁教練不注意時稍摸魚一點 但是王卻是都確實地
→ USBv2:作同樣的訓練動作 今天能回來 應該首重在王的驚人毅力和決心
→ USBv2:大家一直去談論$man當初看走眼 其實有點太事後諸葛 也感覺對
→ USBv2:於王的努力 有點失焦了
推 ninini:肩膀開過兩次刀 這樣回來很順利了 看看Webb
推 jianche:再看到王回來真的很棒~
推 yoshiringo:已經很棒了
推 smallpuma:不過王還沒恢復過去在洋基十九勝的身手也是真的
→ smallpuma:也不能說現金人看走眼
推 yoshiringo:都受傷過怎麼和正常相比啊,樓上= =
推 ghed:雖然說受傷後會變差，但是王在小聯盟時就曾經動肩膀手術過
推 smallpuma:所以不能說現金人看走眼 以當(現)時來看 他的決定很合理
推 OoyaoO:復出機率不高 復出也不一定可以像傷前這麼好 當時不想用大
→ OoyaoO:聯盟約很合理阿
→ ghed:之後還不是有 2006 和 2007 的連兩年 19 勝？
→ yoshiringo:現金人現在開始講王的好話了,想挖回去?
推 fjjkk:五樓說的沒錯 但是國民隊除了roll the dice之外 他們應該真
→ fjjkk:的相信王 (比大多數的台灣人都相信)
推 Sizemore24:程度問題，那麼相信王的話，就不會用 low base &
→ Sizemore24:incentives 去簽。
→ borriss:沒辦法   國民在簽fa上一直很弱勢...
推 enkidu0830:2001也動過手術 建仔還能兩年拿19勝
→ enkidu0830:我相信 明年球季可以期待建仔恢復過往身手 球速加快
推 kenro:現金人的選擇是合理的 他們並不是完全放棄王 只是在商言商
→ kenro:但一切都過了 王把均速拉回93~94 曲球練更好 姿勢固定才是真
推 kenmore:已GM來說其實他也做的沒錯,有身手就算再花大錢簽也值得
推 tsming:一個跑壘受傷的投手給你的醫療團隊醫到肩膀爆炸，這種醫療
→ tsming:團隊講的話到底能不能信啊XD
推 echomica:樓上厲害 肩爆彈也可以怪醫療團隊
推 argoth:科 禁跑導致下盤沒力而過度使用手臂 這點當然是葛格偷懶