The Starting 5

[TonyStarks]

I wonder what's gonna happen come lets say the All-Star break.

Phil Hughes will be back by mid-July most likely.
And Clemens will be in the Bronx.

So right now its:
Wang, Andy, Moose, Clippard, Fill In

But after next week:
Wang, Andy, Clemens, Moose, Clippard

But remember that at some point Kei Igawa will be back...unfortunately.
So by the Break we could have:
Wang, Andy, Rocket, Moose, Clippard, Rasner, Igawa, Hughes, Karstens


I'm gonna figure that Clippard will be 1st to go.
But when Hughes comes back....is he gonna be shipped to Trenton?
If you ask me...the kid is ready now.

If Igawa continues to bomb...what then? Do the Yanks send him to Trenton and keep T-Clip until Hughes is ready? Give Hughes 2 - 3 starts for rehab and then recall him to the Bronx to send Clippard back?

What about Rasner? I'm pretty damn sure that even though when he was healthy he was the 2nd best pitcher...Joe Torre just didn't like the guy. Why? I do not know. But I'm sure he will head back to Trenton. I say keep the guy on as a Long Reliever if possible.

Same goes for Jeff Karstens...he's probably going back to Trenton.

An abundance of starting pitching is good....but with Joe Torre and even Cashman...you never know what they will do...even when the best options are staring them right in the face.


Also...with Kei Igawa. This could turn into another Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui situation. Remember, that the Yankees played MUCH better with both of the lineup. Then when they came back after about 2 mths...Torre reinserted both into the lineup wherever he could...and that killed the chemistry.

With Kei Igawa, I feel he could possibly ruin the flow that the Starting 5 has been giving the Yankees.

I know that the Yankees payed alot of money for the guy..but if he isn't working....

No matter what you do...you'll never be able to fit a square peg...into a round hole.

[Mariano_Rivera]

I wonder what's gonna happen come lets say the All-Star break.

Phil Hughes will be back by mid-July most likely.
And Clemens will be in the Bronx.

So right now its:
Wang, Andy, Moose, Clippard, Fill In

But after next week:
Wang, Andy, Clemens, Moose, Clippard

But remember that at some point Kei Igawa will be back...unfortunately.
So by the Break we could have:
Wang, Andy, Rocket, Moose, Clippard, Rasner, Igawa, Hughes, Karstens


I'm gonna figure that Clippard will be 1st to go.
But when Hughes comes back....is he gonna be shipped to Trenton?
If you ask me...the kid is ready now.

If Igawa continues to bomb...what then? Do the Yanks send him to Trenton and keep T-Clip until Hughes is ready? Give Hughes 2 - 3 starts for rehab and then recall him to the Bronx to send Clippard back?

What about Rasner? I'm pretty damn sure that even though when he was healthy he was the 2nd best pitcher...Joe Torre just didn't like the guy. Why? I do not know. But I'm sure he will head back to Trenton. I say keep the guy on as a Long Reliever if possible.

Same goes for Jeff Karstens...he's probably going back to Trenton.

An abundance of starting pitching is good....but with Joe Torre and even Cashman...you never know what they will do...even when the best options are staring them right in the face.


Also...with Kei Igawa. This could turn into another Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui situation. Remember, that the Yankees played MUCH better with both of the lineup. Then when they came back after about 2 mths...Torre reinserted both into the lineup wherever he could...and that killed the chemistry.

With Kei Igawa, I feel he could possibly ruin the flow that the Starting 5 has been giving the Yankees.

I know that the Yankees payed alot of money for the guy..but if he isn't working....

No matter what you do...you'll never be able to fit a square peg...into a round hole.

I think you mea Scranton Wilkes Barrer the AAA team not Trenton the AA team. I think the starting four are obvious. Wang-Pettitte-Clemens-Mussina. Than you have Rasner, Hughes, Clippard, and Igawa. I think Igawa still needs some work in the minors so I wouldn't call him up. I think Hughes is the best of these pitchers and at least the Yankees 4th best starter. If Mussina keeps pitching like this though I`d have Clippard and Hughes in the rotation.

[Mission27]

im hoping you meant 5th best starter^

im pretty big on jeff karstens- i hope he gets a shot to come up and prove himself but it doesnt look too much like thats gonna happen.. i think keeping him/rasner (or both) in the pen would be a great idea if possible.. if its a matter of roster spots, give him vizcaino's! give ME vizcaino's, just give it to someone else!!

when it comes to igawa, i had been thinking the same thing- that he could come back for another shot and mess up the flow we've got goin right now.. granted, he has to get another shot considering the money we dished out for him and his potential, but id hate to see clippard go down to make that happen

id like to see hughes make a few starts in the minors when hes back from injury but eventually im hoping hes our #5 starter as i think andy-roger-muss-wang-hughes is a GREAT rotation

[DoubleX]

Clippard looks ready enough to me and at this point, could greatly benefit from prolonged ML experience. Unfortunately, the team will probably try to get Igawa back in the mix at some point and that likely will mean the end of Clippard's time with the team (barring other injuries). As for Hughes, given how long he'll be out, I think he'll go back to the minors and we might have to wait until next year to get our first good taste of Hughes in the Majors (though at the very least, I'd expect he'd get a September callup this year). Karstens and Rasner could be out look barring injury. Rasner probably has decent trade value at this point given that he's shown good consistency and that he can pitch at the ML level. I expect that if anyone is traded, it could be him especially given that the team doesn't seem so high on him despite the fact that he's produced.

As for next year, I would say that at least four spots are already locked up:

Wang
Pettitte
Mussina
Hughes (you have to believe he'll start next year in the Majors)

The team would probably like to have Igawa in the 5th spot, but Clippard is probably a better bet. Rasner should also be in the mix, but probably won't. The team has some good arms at AA that could also be in the mix, but they'll likely start next year at AAA. I think DeSalvo and Wright probably had their chances and will be passed by next year by some of the talent in the lower levels. I also don't get what the big deal is about Karstens, but the team seems to like him, so I guess we'll see what happens when he's healthy.

[Mission27]

i thought karstens did a good job when he came in with all the injuries last summer.. you dont? thats where the hype's comin from.. i was actually thinking (preseason) that he had a very good chance at being in the 5 this year

[DoubleX]

i thought karstens did a good job when he came in with all the injuries last summer.. you dont? thats where the hype's comin from.. i was actually thinking (preseason) that he had a very good chance at being in the 5 this year

He did pitch well last year and that was with a supposedly fatigued arm. He looked good in ST until his last two starts as well, at which time he got hit hard. My issue with Karstens is that his stuff isn't all that impressive and everyone around the team seemed to be talking about him a lot but Darrell Rasner was an afterthought. I just don't see what Karstens has ever done to so distinguish himself from Rasner, whom I feel is the better pitcher. Rasner's stuff isn't great either (though he has a pretty good curveball), but he seems to know how to pitch. He has good location, doesn't make many mistakes, gets ahead of batters, and works quickly. The only knock on Rasner at this point is his stamina, IMO, as he seemed to tire by the 5th inning and lose some of his command. But then again, Torre had Rasner on such a short leash that he never had a chance to really battle through problems.

[Mission27]

karstens had good stuff when he came up last year in those spot starts.. and how can you say karstens doesnt know how to pitch (which ur implying by saying rasner knows how to pitch in response to karstens), hes in the ML i think he knows how to pitch lol

[DoubleX]

karstens had good stuff when he came up last year in those spot starts.. and how can you say karstens doesnt know how to pitch (which ur implying by saying rasner knows how to pitch in response to karstens), hes in the ML i think he knows how to pitch lol

It's more a figure of speech. Look at Greg Maddux for example - he's never had the best of stuff, but the guy knows how to pitch, meaning, he knows how to hit his spots, he knows hot to appropriately change things up, and he doesn't make mistakes. It's about precision and guile. Now Rasner is of course nowhere near Maddux, but Rasner's style is in a similar vein. Rasner doesn't have the best of stuff, but he knows how to pitch, meaning he knows how to hit his spots, change things up, and get ahead of hitters. Karstens stuff might be better than Rasner's, but Karstens doesn't blow anyone away with his stuff and I don't know if he can pitch like Rasner, meaning with as much precision and without many mistakes. Karstens seems prone to leaving balls up in the zone and missing his spots.

[Mission27]

hitting spots is having stuff lol

[Mariano_Rivera]

hitting spots is having stuff lol

"Stuff" is usually referred to as how hard you throw, break on breaking pitches, etc. Isn't it?

[monkey333]

"Stuff" is usually referred to as how hard you throw, break on breaking pitches, etc. Isn't it?
Si. Hitting spots equal=command/control.