#7 Chien-Ming Wang, 25, RHP --posted at 4:22 AM by Fabian /
I was somewhat disappointed in Wang entering the 04 season. Though making the
jump from the NYPL to the AA Eastern League is admittedly very difficult, I had
great expectations for Wang due to his having already spent two seasons in the
NYPL and being 23. Unfortunately, Wang was very mediocre other than his walk
and home run rates as he struggled to make it through his first full season of
professional baseball. Thankfully, in 04, Wang returned to AA and redeemed
himself.
While Wang's strikeout rate still was not standout it was very respectable at
7.43 per 9 innings. He also held opponents to a respectable average against of
.266. The areas of statistical performance where Wang excelled were his walk
rate, 2.15 BB/9 and homer rate, .50 HR/9. Despite this, I remained unconvinced
that Wang deserved to reclaim his prospect status, at times calling for a
bullpen demotion. It was not until Wang's season capping run in the AAA
International League that I became a believer once more. In 40.1 AAA innings,
Wang pushed his K/9 to 7.81, lowered his BAA to .215, and his BB/9 to 1.79.
The only peripheral that worsened was his HR rate, which is somewhat suspect
given that 2 of the 3 home runs he allowed took place in his first AAA start,
so there is some leeway. Wang continued his run of pitching success in the
Olympics and in Spring Training where he caught Joe Torre's eye and has solidly
taken hold of the first-call-up-for-when-Kevin-Brown/Jaret-Wright-are-needed-to
-make-a-start-and-can-spot.
Wang is able to excel by placing his fastball, which currently runs 92-95 and
tops out at 97, throughout the strike zone quadrant. It is his best pitch by
far and in combination with his split-finger fastball he can give right-handed
hitters fits. Unfortunately, since his secondary arsenal is not as far along as
his fastball in the development process, minor league left-handers have been
able to take advantage of him. During Wang's spring training starts this did
not seem to be much of an issue, but long-term it is still a concern when
evaluating whether or not Wang truly has the ability to stay in a starting
rotation.
The other question looming as far as the topic of Wang and being a starting
pitcher is the issue of health. Wang missed all of 01 with shoulder surgery,he
missed some time in 03 due to blisters, and he missed time in 04 due to a
hamstring issue. While it is somewhat encouraging that Wang has yet to
demonstrate a single recurring injury, it is tougher to trust him knowing that
he has come down with some issue in 3 out of his last 4 years with the
organization.
Though I am no longer disappointed in Wang for his performance not matching
his stuff, I still am not his biggest fan. The injury history is a big concern
for me as is the issue of dealing with left-handed hitters given his age and
the continued presence of the problem. However, he is the Yankee pitching
prospect closest to the majors, which counts more so for pitchers as far as I
concerned. In addition, there is no denying that his fastball is very good and
even in a bullpen role, in a possible attempt to stave off health issues,
Wang could be very useful. As it stands, his usefulness as a starter is likely
to be tested in 05 given the older slant of the Yankee rotation.
以上轉自: Replacement Level Yankees Weblog(NYY)
http://yankeefan.blogspot.com/
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