[外電] Wang shows signs of life

[Ally1213 (牧羊貓 XD)]

http://tinyurl.com/mtdqe2



Wang shows signs of life



NEW YORK – Like a wave crashing onto the beach, full of sound and fury
before retreating in silence, the Chien-Ming Wang crisis (mostly) has played
itself out. His velocity is again in the mid-90s, he’s back to throwing
ground balls and earned at least another start, if not a long-term berth in
the rotation.


This isn’t to say Wang worked a classic against the Nationals on Wednesday
night; he clearly was outpitched by John Lannan in a teaser of a 3-2 loss to
the major leagues’ worst team. But that was an indictment of the offense,
not Wang, whose five innings (three runs, six hits, two walks) represented
progress from his ash-heap days of early April.


Joe Girardi noted that 10 of Wang’s 15 outs were grounders, saying, “That’s
a real good sign.” So the intrigue begins: How do the Yankees take advantage
of Wang’s recovering sinker, Phil Hughes’ blistering fastball and Joba
Chamberlain’s volatility?


Make no mistake, how the Yankees arrange these three chess pieces will go a
long way in determining how (and where) they fin ish in October.


The Bombers’ rotation started the night with a 4.86 ERA, 12th in the
American League, which means something has to give.

So why not use Wang and Hughes in the rotation together, and return
Chamberlain to the eighth inning, where he starred as the bridge to Mariano
Rivera? It’s a long-running debate – OK, more like a filibuster – to which
general manager Brian Cashman never will yield. But Joba’s last start
against the Mets and his communication problems with Jorge Posada should jar
the front office out of its iron belief that Joba is an unmovable100-pitch
entity.


He’s a talented but a stubborn, if not a combustible personality who might
not ever feel comfortable with Posada. Either the Yankees designate Francisco
Cervelli as Joba’s permanent catcher, or else they simplify Chamberlain’s
life by using him in the eighth inning and limiting his arsenal to his two
best weapons: the fastball and that killer slider.


Somehow, Chamberlain has fallen in love with his third-best pitch, the
curveball, and it made for an uncomfortable rift with Posada on Friday
against the Mets. The two simply couldn’t agree – Posada kept calling for
the heater, Joba kept shaking him off – until the lines of communication
collapsed altogether.


So how does this impact Hughes? Only that Wang’s work-in-progress gives the
Yankees the option of using them both in the rotation. Had Wang failed, it’s
likely he would’ve been demoted to long relief (or, who knows, even returned
to the disabled list with another mystery injury) and Hughes would’ve been
installed as the de facto No. 5 starter.


But that would’ve meant keeping Joba in the rotation, where he has been
good, but not the ace-in-training the Yankees have been envisioning. As noted
recently by waswatching.com, there are numbers that suggest the Bombers may
have overestimated Chamberlain’s durability and effectiveness taking the
ball every fifth day.


On four days’ rest throughout his career, Joba has allowed the AL a .391
slugging percentage and .267 batting average. With an extra day off, those
numbers drop to .273 and .202. Remember, Chamberlain injured his shoulder
twice last season, so these metrics are more than noteworthy — they’re a
red flag.

Even so, it’s probable that Chamberlain will stay put; the Yankees still
think of him as their young John Smoltz. At the very least, there’ll be less
pressure on Joba if Wang continues this surge.

Ironically, there was every reason to believe he would’ve sputtered again,
this time because of the emotional drain that understandably followed the
birth of his son Tuesday night.


Just how much sleep does a new father get, anyway? Wang might’ve been
working on adrenaline, but there was a low probability of him sustaining that
sinker for very long. Yet, Girardi sensed a different Wang walking in from
the bullpen – a complete makeover from the nervous wreck who pitched in fear
of the strike zone at Fenway a week ago.


 “I actually saw a smile on his face,” Girardi said, without having to
explain his surprise. Wang is the closet thing the Yankees have to a robot.
Low key to the point of invisibility, as self-contained as Alex Rodriguez is
in need of attention.


Bad foot? Bad hip muscle? More like a missing chip is what kept Wang on the
disabled list parts of the last two years. But there Wang was after the game,
smiling the thinnest of smiles when someone asked if he’d kept his spot in
the rotation.

 “Yes, I hope so,” he said quietly.


That’s not a stretch, considering “it was like the old Wang” pounding the
lower half of the strike zone, according to Posada. He didn’t allow his
first hit until the third inning, got burned by Adam Dunn’s solo homer in
the fourth and was victimized by a bad call by first base umpire Larry
Vanover in the fifth inning, when the Nationals scored two more runs.


Cristian Guzman was called safe on a micro-close play at first, even though
TV replays showed that A-Rod’s throw to Mark Teixeira did, indeed, beat
Guzman. Instead, worried about runners at first and third, Wang fell behind,
2-0, to Nick Johnson, who promptly blasted a two-run triple just beyond Melky
Cabrera’s full-stretch dive.

That gave the Nats a 3-0 lead, which Lannan and Mike MacDougal preserved.


Despite the deficit, Girardi said Wang was “much, much better” and the
Yankees almost absolved him, pulling to within a run in the bottom of the
ninth, then putting runners on first and third with one out.

But Robinson Cano hit into a 6-4-3 double play that killed the rally and the
game. The real exercise, however, begins now. Three arms, two rotation slots.
Who do you like in this summer’s math?




--



宇宙裡的微小塵埃

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/AllyDai

--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) 
◆ From: 203.71.94.5
推 OWEN5:翻譯、翻譯員!
推 kay731:看不懂
推 niceswd:老王展現生命的記號....是這樣嗎???
推 Beretta:看完了
推 bonniekiss2:翻譯: 王  休斯  賽斯  歐夫  萊夫
推 VIPER16:小王的一場微好投讓自己延續了大聯盟生存的機會
推 Dannyfish:王 喬巴 休斯 排列組合 C3取2先發輪值 你甲意安那
推 GiGijosda:三條臂  兩個缺  這個夏天  你愛怎樣排?   XDD
推 besamey:提到了怎麼處理Joba,休斯,王是10月的關鍵
→ besamey:是決定能不能進季後賽的關鍵
推 wesleyliou:小王替自己賺的另一場先發  阿肉需要被注意
→ besamey:這蠻對的 洋基為了總冠軍 應該是不會輕易放棄王
推 GiGijosda:我滿支持讓Joba進牛棚  大帝進先發
推 fruitman:說他認為小王總是會復活 賈霸在先發被高估 佈局人才是他
→ fruitman:的正職 覺得王今天的表現在正確的路上而且快回來了
推 GiGijosda:當個第八局setup比較適合Joba
→ fruitman:也提到賈霸在最近先發和捕手的溝通不良
→ fruitman:這篇好溫暖哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪
→ besamey:可是Joba應該還要再觀察 先發不滿一年 很難看出適合哪邊
→ besamey:to 3F 我會翻老王出現了生命跡象..喔不 是有復活的跡象 XD
推 zobrist:標題有點語帶雙關 搭上了 小小王的誕生
推 peskin:喔~ 是艾莉姊
推 abing75907:葛格出現生命跡象  XD
→ realmd:0勝5敗era破10，邪惡帝國真的轉性了
推 djviva:就是建議王跟Hughes都進先發,Joba回牛棚當MO的上一個中繼
→ djviva:還提到Joba跟Posada溝通不良,因為Joba很固執
推 weiyea:應該是說他的滾地球回來 這是個好現象(good sign)
→ cosy:可是Joba的球速和以前當後援中繼時差很多 我覺得他不適合先發