the pitching is what it is?

[mjrennie]

mediocre....as described by a show i saw on nasn called 'the sports reprters', when referring to the yanks hurlers.

is that fair? from my limited knowledge, which grows with each game i watch, seems to me we have not got the pitching to get anywhere this season. next season maybe, but not now. if our bats remain quiet, the pitching beyond wang looks fragile and suscpetible to take losses too often.

mind you, 4 homers last night suggest a waking up of the bats. no?

btw, 38 days til we fly over to nyc. 40 days until i see a game at the stadium. i am literally ready to burst!

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

mediocre....as described by a show i saw on nasn called 'the sports reprters', when referring to the yanks hurlers.

is that fair? from my limited knowledge, which grows with each game i watch, seems to me we have not got the pitching to get anywhere this season. next season maybe, but not now. if our bats remain quiet, the pitching beyond wang looks fragile and suscpetible to take losses too often.

mind you, 4 homers last night suggest a waking up of the bats. no?

btw, 38 days til we fly over to nyc. 40 days until i see a game at the stadium. i am literally ready to burst!

I think that they may be right.

Besides Wang we are relying on two old horses and two unproven youngsters.

Wang is really good. Moose is shaky at times. Hughes does not live up to the expectations yet. To me Pettitte is a big question mark.

Regarding to Hughes; there are several big names that had some difficult years in the beginning of their MLB career. I don't expect too much from him this year. We have to be patient with him. It will be his first full year in the Majors and the same for Kennedy. Allow them this season to adapt.

But I fear that if they don't do what they are expectd to do this season, that they might be a part of a trade. In that case I think that Hank Frankensteinbrenner will overrule Cashman and that he will aim for the short term success, just like his dad.

Let's keep our :crossfingers:

About your trip to NY: Do you need someone to carry your suitcases? I volunteer to do that for you...

[bigbadwolf]

I think by the end of the season the Yankee pitching staff will surprise many people in a very positive way.

[mjrennie]

About your trip to NY: Do you need someone to carry your suitcases? I volunteer to do that for you...

sorry mate, no need for a porter! went on a stadium tour last year and was stunned. now for the real thing, a ball game.

[mikeymussina35]

I think by the end of the season the Yankee pitching staff will surprise many people in a very positive way.

I agree. As soon as Kennedy and Hughes get it going the Yankees will have a solid staff.

[DoubleX]

Was this the ESPN "Sports Reporters" show? The problem with those guys, as with much of American sports media, is that they have only a very superficial and general knowledge of what they are covering. They try too hard now to create stories and turn sports into soap operas, rather than just covering and knowing the actual sport.

In any event, I wouldn't say that the Yankees pitching is mediocre this year (last year it was mediocre), but on paper, it doesn't blow you away, though there is a lot of potential.

[mjrennie]

yes, it is the ESPN show, from Times Square they say.

the reporter, a lady, said, 'the trouble with the yankees is that the pitching is what it is - mediocre'.

i agree they ham it up a bit, but she made a reasonable case.

[Imgran]

I think by the end of the season the Yankee pitching staff will surprise many people in a very positive way.

Agreed. They're not so much worse than everyone else in the early going. I mean, look at Lester -- he's not doing any better than Hughes and Kennedy. Even Buchholz shows his youth from time to time. Everyone with young kids in the rotation is going to have moments like this. I guess you and we both can thank our stars that at least we don't have a Zack Grienke on the roster to deal with. Likely enough they'll all turn it around nicely.

[Evangelion]

Was this the ESPN "Sports Reporters" show? The problem with those guys, as with much of American sports media, is that they have only a very superficial and general knowledge of what they are covering. They try too hard now to create stories and turn sports into soap operas, rather than just covering and knowing the actual sport.

In any event, I wouldn't say that the Yankees pitching is mediocre this year (last year it was mediocre), but on paper, it doesn't blow you away, though there is a lot of potential.

Currently, I call this pitching staff mediocre. Outside of Wang and Pettitte, the rest of the staff a question mark. Does it have potential? Yeah, I agree with you there, but it's unfulfilled potential at the moment. Potential doesn't make the staff good, it just it's a high ceiling of possibilities. To add, Pettitte's high WHIP would tell you he's not dominating. He'll have a ERA in 3.80 to 4.20 range, but when he's your second most dependable pitcher, your pitching staff has certain issues. In Pettitte's case, his potential has been meet and passed ages ago. Not much more room for growth for a pitcher on the wrong side of 35. I do feel the season's success is tied into the reliability that Hughes and Kennedy can provide. Do both have to be dominate? No, but both need to be dependable pitcher who'll go out there and, on most occasions, keep the team in the game.

[Pinstripes]

Yankees are currently 5th in the AL in ERA, but that was before tonights 9 run outing against Boston. Still, they shouldn't drop that much. Also remember that they allowed 13 ER in one game against TB.

All things aside, and consdering the early struggles of the youngsters, in addition to the fact that Joba has been out for a few games now, 5th in the AL in ERA is not bad at all. And when you factor in how good this offense should be, that's not bad.

Consder that Boston is currently 9th in the AL in ERA, the Angels are 11th, the Indians are 12th, and Detroit is 14th. The other "contending" teams in the AL have some very serious pitching issues, and I believe the Yankee pitching staff is being overlooked, but I'm not sure why.

This Yankee pitching staff is going to surprise a lot of the media people who don't really know what they're talking about.

Currently, I call this pitching staff mediocre. Outside of Wang and Pettitte, the rest of the staff a question mark. Does it have potential? Yeah, I agree with you there, but it's unfulfilled potential at the moment. Potential doesn't make the staff good, it just it's a high ceiling of possibilities. To add, Pettitte's high WHIP would tell you he's not dominating. He'll have a ERA in 3.80 to 4.20 range, but when he's your second most dependable pitcher, your pitching staff has certain issues. In Pettitte's case, his potential has been meet and passed ages ago. Not much more room for growth for a pitcher on the wrong side of 35. I do feel the season's success is tied into the reliability that Hughes and Kennedy can provide. Do both have to be dominate? No, but both need to be dependable pitcher who'll go out there and, on most occasions, keep the team in the game.

All of the "problems" you've described here can be attributed to almost any of the contenders in the AL. Will Lester and Buchholz carry the back end of that rotation? Can Wakefield still get it done? Can Beckett match last season? Can Matsuzaka bounce back from a mediocre year? (He's shown some good signs so far, but he's also walked a ton of batters, which to me is a sign that other teams have simply been letting him off the hook in the early going).

How about Cleveland's "aces"? Sabathia is off to a hideous start... was last season a fluke? He's never been a dominant ace type pitcher (look at his career numbers). Maybe he can't back up a great 2007. Can Carmona build on his tremendous 2007 as well, or will he be due for some drop off? Can their bullpen, which has been downright AWFUL so far get it together? Can a team win without a closer?

Detroit needs no explanation. I believe their starting pitching is among the worst of all the top teams.

All of these question marks are a fact of life for every baseball team. The Yankees aren't alone in that.

[soberdennis]

mediocre....as described by a show i saw on nasn called 'the sports reprters', when referring to the yanks hurlers.

is that fair? from my limited knowledge, which grows with each game i watch, seems to me we have not got the pitching to get anywhere this season. next season maybe, but not now. if our bats remain quiet, the pitching beyond wang looks fragile and suscpetible to take losses too often.

mind you, 4 homers last night suggest a waking up of the bats. no?

btw, 38 days til we fly over to nyc. 40 days until i see a game at the stadium. i am literally ready to burst!

I don't think it is mediocre at all. Our pitching has carried us while our offense has struggled.
Remember last April when we couldn't get a starter past the 5th inning? This year's staff has been refreshing.
Now if you tried comparing it with the Braves of 10 years ago, I'd say it was mediocre. But is it fair to compare it with one of the best staffs of all time?

[Urbanshocker13]

This staff will have some growing pains and some ageing pains (?) but in the end it will be a good staff. We should wait a see how this staff will be this year, to see if the young guys live up to their Potential and to seeif the old guys still have it. Wang will be Wang ( despite tonite's game)

[Evangelion]

All of these question marks are a fact of life for every baseball team. The Yankees aren't alone in that.

Who ever said they were?

[Pinstripes]

Who ever said they were?

You call the pitching staff "mediocre" yet the very things you knock them for are things you can knock all the AL contenders for. I also never said that you DID say that, I was simply stating an observation.

The results and the ERA don't make the Yankee staff mediocre - this team is above .500 despite an offense that has underachieved (a few days ago they were near the bottom of the AL in runs). That's without seeing much yet from Hughes and Kennedy, who I fully expect to improve.

5th in the AL in ERA is, by definition, not mediocre, and I still feel we haven't see the best from this pitching staff yet.

[Evangelion]

You call the pitching staff "mediocre" yet the very things you knock them for are things you can knock all the AL contenders for. I also never said that you DID say that, I was simply stating an observation.

The results and the ERA don't make the Yankee staff mediocre - this team is above .500 despite an offense that has underachieved (a few days ago they were near the bottom of the AL in runs). That's without seeing much yet from Hughes and Kennedy, who I fully expect to improve.

5th in the AL in ERA is, by definition, not mediocre, and I still feel we haven't see the best from this pitching staff yet.

Fifth in AL ERA in how many games? Unless Hughes and Kennedy become the pitchers people suspect, that ERA going to get much higher. I would call a staff with Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, Hughes and Kennedy mediocre at the moment. Pettitte the second most dependable pitcher on this staff and it's not consider mediocre? You prefer the word average?

Boston and Toronto in their own division have a better rotation. In the AL, Kansas City and Cleveland have better rotations, too. If not dealing with injury issues, Tampa Bay with Kazmir and Shields with high ceiling pitchers like Garza and Jackson along with their farm system. Seattle with Bedard and Hernandez at the front. The back of their rotation lead by Silva and Washburn.

Yankees are middle of the pack with it comes to starting pitching at the moment. If you prefer, I'll call their rotation average.

Still feel you haven't seen the best of the pitching staff? That's what a fan of every team with a young prospect with a high ceiling saying about their staff. It's potential. Potential doesn't effect how good the staff at the moment. Yankees have an average to below average staff with high ceiling prospects that could make their staff much better.

I'm not going to say Hughes is a terrible pitcher, but realistically, he's 21. Just because other pitchers had instant success and became main stays at MLB level doesn't mean he will at this age. I do suspect he'll become a good to great pitcher at one point, but currently, I'm not impressed with what I've seen of Hughes this season. I did suspect he build of his strong finish to 2007 season. Could happen this year? Sure. Could it not happen this year? Sure. If Hughes is pitching like he did in Boston, where he only fooled Pedrioa, he's not going to be that good this season.