Whither Chien-Ming Wang

[abc12812 ()]

http://riveraveblues.com/2009/04/whither-chien-ming-wang-10496/


From 2005-2008, Chien-Ming Wang, the Yanks’ Taiwanese right-handed
sinker-ball specialist, was among the best pitchers in baseball. His 54 wins
ranked him tied for 15th among all pitchers over that span, and his 3.79 ERA
was good for 20th among pitchers with more than 500 IP since the start of
2005.

As the Yankees and their fans have come to learn, that success can all fall
apart very, very quickly. Three starts and just six — six! — innings later,
Wang finds himself atop another list, this one far more dubious. Of the 18
pitchers since 1954, to give up seven or more earned runs in three
consecutive starts, Chien-Ming Wang’s totals are by far the worst of the lot.

Of the hurlers on that list, only Hayden Penn’s 27.00 ERA approaches Wang’s
34.50 mark, and none of the pitchers had managed to put together a WHIP of
4.83. We don’t however need those numbers to know that Wang has been bad. We
can see it with our own eyes.

While we’ve used pitch f/x numbers to show that his pitches aren’t sinking
and his release point is off, we don’t need these illuminating features to
know what’s wrong with Chien-Ming Wang. He has raised his career ERA by over
a quarter of a run to 4.08, and in a nutshell, his mechanics are completely
out of whack. He’s not breaking his hands at the right point; he’s not
lifting his leg enough; he’s not driving forward; and he’s not generating
sink or speed because of it. Maybe he’s subconsciously afraid of putting too
much pressure on his injured foot; maybe something else is wrong.

Those problems though are for the Yankees to fix. Unfortunately, they have
only a few ways of doing so. Because the Yankees added Chien-Ming Wang to the
40-man roster in 2003 to protect him from the Rule V draft, he is out of
options. While Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, two other top-flight starters who
struggled, were sent down to hammer out their kinks, that option is closed to
the Yanks and Wang.

The team could look to disable Wang for a little while. Maybe he’s actually
injured or maybe he’s just “injured.” Either way, a 15-day rehab stint in
Tampa could help the team isolate the problems.

For his part, Wang wants to keep working through games. Joe Girardi, however,
hasn’t committed to starting Wang in Fenway Park on Friday. With an off-day
on Thursday, the team could skip Wang in the rotation while working on the
side to end his slump. Right now, my money is on that move.

Whatever the outcome, the Yankees have almost been expecting this day. They
haven’t locked Wang up to a long-term deal. Instead, the team has opted for
arbitration and a year-to-year approach with the 29-year-old. It’s almost as
though they expected the sinker to stop sinking and the lack of out-pitch to
haunt them.

While possible, the Yankees need Chien-Ming Wang to rediscover his groove. Of
all the possible problems heading into 2009, this one was so remote and so
unexpected. The Yankees expected their worm-killer to pick where he left off
last year. That he hasn’t is cause for concern.

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◆ From: 140.112.5.3
推 Belladonaa:夯到不行
推 leddy:進15-DL吧...
推 fatoes:一直要沒受傷的人進DL是怎樣?? 消息都沒在跟的喔
推 leddy:你有在看文嗎? 科科...
→ fatoes:有阿  教練都說沒受傷了 跟這篇文瞎起鬨幹麼
推 clkdtm32:技術性的放進去啊 你在激動啥...
→ leddy:無言...你高興就好...
→ leddy:跳過先發沒了上場機會修得回來最好...否則球技會不會更生疏.
推 Picoro:3樓可以看倒數第四段就好
→ Picoro:其實大家都在找一個不傷害球隊成績 , 又能幫助他的方法
→ CGary:技術性DL其實不是說進去就能的, 尤其是這招本來就要暗著來,
→ CGary:現在鬧得全城都知道實在也是挺好笑的XD
推 Alexboo:river一直很關注小王吶
→ kimifort:leddy被反嗆了  哭哭
→ kimifort:三樓大概有裝過濾器過濾leddy的文
推 ckshera:三樓XDD囧了
→ wpd:問題就是教練跟王本人都說 沒有健康問題  還要再去弄技術性??
→ wpd:技術都不技術了  這樣還放的進去 那DL制度似乎也滿中職化的
推 Picoro:這麼說好了 , "沒有生理上健康問題" , 這是事實
→ Picoro:但旁邊的人都幫洋基緊張 , 想找個解套方案
→ Picoro:所以才會越來越多這種文章 , 某種程度代表王蠻重要的
推 CGary:要弄要低調, 就這麼簡單... 基本上 DL 不能用洗的, 現在大家
→ CGary:都吵 反而斷了這條路...
→ CGary:君看 Pavano 要進 DL 都是不聲不響的啊 :P
推 Alexboo:Painvano每次進DL都是搞的經天地契鬼神阿
推 CGary:那是事後 XD, 事前很安靜啊
推 siliver:這倒是,不知不覺就開TJ去了,硍 !!
推 arlen721024:現在想起來，一個幾乎都沒在投球的投手為啥還要開TJ..
→ arlen721024:球團應該查一下他平時到底在做啥運動...
推 Kingkuo:結果查到他經常滑雪打吉他英雄還打籃球(XDDD)
→ Kingkuo:開玩笑的XD
推 CGary:不奇怪, Pavano 那個百分之百一定是業外問題...XD
→ aresa:D-Train都可以因為燥鬱症進15dl了
→ Kingkuo:更何況Pavano說洋基都沒挺他...所以傷更大...XD
推 pttsac:Painvano:我就是DL    號稱「DL魔術師」
推 abidog:三樓真可愛