Yanks' hopes rest on rookie arms and pitching by committee
BY ANTHONY McCARRON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Friday, September 7th 2007, 4:48 AM
The Yankees have used 13 different starting pitchers this season, including
eight rookies, six of whom made their major league debuts, so they certainly
know how fickle the fortunes of a rotation can be. Heck, Carl Pavano, of all
people, started on Opening Day.
But through 140 games, the Yankee rotation, long a benchmark of their playoff
teams, has never stabilized. That could make their final push for the
wild-card spot - can fans still dare to dream about the division with the
Red Sox six games ahead? - difficult, or at least dramatic.
And with only 22 games remaining, including the opener of a three-game set
in Kansas City tonight, there's really nothing the Yankees can do except,
as Andy Pettitte said, "hope this is good enough."
"It's late in the season, so there's always concern," Pettitte added. "I'm
concerned about myself. I don't need to have another start like I did against
Tampa Bay (Sunday) where I give up five runs in seven innings (actually 6-1/3).
I need to shut down the teams I start against and hopefully help this team
win.
"What we've got is what we're going with. This is it. I want to think it's
all going to be good for us. I want to think that no matter how bad we
struggle the rest of the way, we can get it done with this group of guys.
There are no other options right now. Hopefully, we can ride this thing out
and get to the playoffs and get everyone healthy."
There have been glimmers of hope that the rotation will roll, like when
Pettitte, Roger Clemens and Chien-Ming Wang combined for a 1.80 ERA in
last month's sweep of the Red Sox. But three of the next four starts,
including one apiece by Pettitte and Clemens, were duds.
"It's amazing how quickly it can look ugly, right?" Pettitte said.
But that downturn was followed by good outings from Wang and Phil Hughes.
Tonight, Ian Kennedy, who had a fabulous debut last weekend against Tampa
Bay, starts against the Royals.
Kennedy and Hughes give the Yankees two rookies in their rotation, spots that
used to be held by more experienced, playoff-hardened pitchers. Clemens is
going to miss at least one start with an elbow problem. Mike Mussina, whom
Kennedy replaced in the rotation because Mussina was awful for three
consecutive starts, is likely to take Clemens' turn in the series in Toronto
that begins next week. Wang had to come out of his last start because of
lower-back stiffness, although he was running in the outfield and lifting
weights the next day.
Torre allowed that "there are a lot of unknowns right now" in the rotation,
but he wouldn't admit to being uneasy about it. "Not really," he said. "I
think curious is a better word."
GM Brian Cashman wouldn't even admit to "curious." "At this time, we don't
have time to be concerned," he said. "It's September, it's all hands on deck.
We're in a sprint and we have to find a way."
Torre says he is confident that Clemens will be back soon. "But," Torre
conceded, "as we all point out, he is 45 years old."
The manager has seen enough from Kennedy and Hughes not to be worried about
them in the cauldron of a playoff race. The conversations Torre has had with
the executives who work with the minor leaguers "are different than they've
ever been," Torre said. Translated, Torre means that everyone, including
himself, believes that pitchers such as Kennedy and Hughes can have
long-term impact on the rotation and are not spot-start showcases or
cannon fodder, to be replaced by an expensive veteran.
Hughes' velocity is not yet what the Yankees expect, and his curveball hasn't
been as "quick" as they'd like. But they still love the late movement on his
fastball, and he shook off three straight poor outings to pitch well against
Seattle on Wednesday.
Kennedy displayed no nerves in his debut, impressing Torre. Dave Eiland,
the Yanks' Triple-A pitching coach who is currently working with the Bombers,
told Torre that Kennedy can be even better than he was against the Devil Rays,
particularly his curveball.
Kennedy's biggest problem might be explaining to his fiancee, USC basketball
player Allison Jaskowiak, how they might have to move their Oct. 6 wedding
in St. Louis because he'll be pitching in the postseason. "We just hope his
prospective bride is very understanding," Torre quipped.
Overall, Yankee starters are 54-45 with a 4.76 ERA. The ERA is 20th in
baseball, and opposing hitters are batting .283 against them, which is 23rd.
The average ERA for AL starters is 4.61, and hitters are averaging .275
against opposing starters.
Without Wang and Pettitte - the likely 1-2 starters if the Yankees make the
playoffs - it's scary to think where the Bombers' numbers might be. Yankee
starters were 16-7 in August, with Wang and Pettitte combining to go 10-1.
Together, they have 29 of the 54 wins by Yankee starters.
Wang has developed into a real stopper, going 8-2 in 11 starts following a
Yankee loss. Only five pitchers have more wins after their team loses. After
being runner-up in the Cy Young voting last year, Wang is 17-6, although he
missed at least four starts to injury at the beginning of the season.
Pettitte says there isn't any more pressure on him or Wang. "I feel like
I need to win every time anyway, like it's crucial, life or death, no matter
the situation," Pettitte said. "We still have some young guys in our rotation
and hopefully they can give us a chance to win their games. Really, you can't
ask for more than that from them.
"Moose was throwing the ball well and hopefully he comes back. I want to
believe that Roger will come back and pitch well. He's done it before.
"I want to believe everything is going to be okay."
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