Getting Torre'd Pt. 2: The Return of Villowned

[monkey333]

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070515&content_id=1966419&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

So yeah he's back, bye bye Sean Henn. It's true, Henn started tailing off after a nice start and Villone pitched well against those youngings' in AAA. Haven't heard a thing about his stuff, hopefully he's recovered some velocity since the end of last year.

However, when was Britton optioned down? There's the ten day rule I believe and I'm pretty dissapointed Britton isn't up rather than Villowned.

[DoubleX]

Britton hasn't been up since the first game of that doubleheader in Texas (he was then sent down between games as the team elected to keep Colter Bean instead). I'd like to see Britton on the team, especially over Luis Vizcaino, but there were too many things going for Villone right now. First, the Yankees had until today to put him on the roster or risk losing him to another team (which would be likely); Second, Torre is unimaginative and sticks to a blueprint which calls for two lefties in the pen; Third, Torre likes Villone (as he does most veterans); Fourth, Villone has been pitching well in AAA; and Fifth, he fills essentially the same role as Henn in that he's a lefty out of the pen that can go two or three innings if necessary.

It's ashame to see Henn go, but he was struggling lately. Nevertheless, he showed a lot until lately and I think there's a lot to be optimistic about. He throws hard and he challenges hitters, so I'm sure we haven't see the last of Henn.

[Evangelion]

Villone should be good for a week before Torre over-use him and blow his arm out for the second year in a row. You know, that's what Torre will do to a bullpen pitcher. On a serious note, Villone not a bad left hander, but how the rotation setup, pitchers like Clemens, Pettitte and Mussina won't get into the 7 inning all the time, he'll likely become tired, if he happen to be effective, then start to suck again like last season.

[TonyStarks]

Villone should be good for a week before Torre over-use him and blow his arm out for the second year in a row. You know, that's what Torre will do to a bullpen pitcher. On a serious note, Villone not a bad left hander, but how the rotation setup, pitchers like Clemens, Pettitte and Mussina won't get into the 7 inning all the time, he'll likely become tired, if he happen to be effective, then start to suck again like last season.

Sooo...you mean kinda like what he did to Sean Henn this season? :laugh

[Mattingly]

Moose was supposed to start today, but with the rain delay, he's been pushed back to Game 1 of the DH (start time about 2pm ET, I believe).

Since Moose has had problems when he is asked to start a day earlier or later, he may need some bullpen help. Hopefully not, but I'd say that's a likelier possibility than Wang's needing help before the 7th inning.

I'd like to see whether, if Moose is cruising along (hopefully), whether Torre immediately uses Villone when a lefty is up, or when Moose has actually run out of gas.

Ron Villone vs CWS (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/bvsp?playerId=3186&teamId=4)

Of the guys who've had the most ABs against him, Thome, Podsednik, Uribe and Hall have had the most success against him, between a .829 OPS and 1.622. Torre will definitely have to pick his spots very carefully, and not just put him out there to see if he can hold a 1-run lead. We can lose too many games if Torre wishes to play hi-wire acts w/o the net like this.

We'd need a larger lead and fewer ducks on the pond before Villone is called in, I believe.