http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spyside074414518sep07,0,
1858138.story?coll=ny-yankees-print
Wang is pain-free and will get start
BY MARK HERRMANN
STAFF WRITER
September 7, 2005
Chien-Ming Wang has put himself in position to be the biggest surprise of
the Yankees' season - twice.
After having emerged as a starting pitcher who performed way beyond the
club's expectations, he has come back a lot sooner and a lot stronger than the
team anticipated from a shoulder injury that had threatened to end his season.
Wang will start against the Devil Rays tomorrow night, the Yankees
announced yesterday, adding that Aaron Small will pitch the opener of the
series against the Red Sox Friday. Al Leiter, coming off a nightmare
performance in Oakland Friday, will not take his next turn in the rotation.
The biggest eye-opener in all of that is Wang, which is nothing new for him.
The rookie gave the Yankees a huge boost (6-3, 3.89 ERA) before he told
them in early July that his shoulder was hurting. There was some talk about
surgery, and speculation that he would not pitch anymore in 2005.
But there he was in the clubhouse before the game last night, saying (without
the help of an interpreter), "I'm fine. It feels good. I'm the same as before
- no pain.
"At first the doctors said I had a little bit of swelling," he said, adding
that he saw it was improving, "after two weeks."
Manager Joe Torre said, "When we heard they decided they weren't going to
do anything for it other than rest, rehab and throwing, it gave us hope that he
would come back."
He showed the Yankees enough in his two rehab starts in Columbus to
convince them to give him a start. His fastball was consistently in the 91- to
92-miles-per-hour range. "One hundred percent," the pitcher characterized
his condition.
"His numbers are the same," Torre said. "He's not as sharp, probably, as he
was most of the time when he started, but his stuff is good, his changing
speeds is good. Most important is that he has recovered after his starts
normally. I think that's one thing you certainly look at as being major.
"And he has a great deal of confidence. That helps us have confidence in
him."
Wang said he could be a reliever if the Yankees want him to do that. It would
take him about 25 pitches to get loose. That was part of the equation in
deciding whom to start this week, Torre said, but the club decided to go on
what it has seen in all three pitchers' recent starts (including Wang's at
Triple-A).
Small is coming off a shutout in Oakland, a day after Leiter started the
Yankees on the way to a 12-0 defeat by allowing six runs before he was
removed after getting only two outs.
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