Kennedy & Cashman

[dougj1]

The wins and losses of rookie pitchers is never important.What is important is the progress they make with each start. It's obvious that Kennedy is not making any progress at all and should be in the minors for at least another year.Why he is here baffles me. He doesn't have a great fastball, great delivery or great control......It's unfortunate that Cashman cannot be sent down as well, since he's definitely not a major league GM.

[YankeeFanUK]

Kennedys main problem is he does`nt attack the plate...hes forever trying to nibble the corners instead of challenging the hitter and letting the defense do the job

[dougj1]

You are correct in your observation. What I have never understood is how or why Cashman would start a season with 2 unproven young pitchers in the starting rotation. I can see this happening with KC or Pirates et al., but not a team that supposedly was a real contender for the WS. I could see Hughes but not both.....To me, Kennedy, at best, doesn't look like anything but a #5 starter if that.

[Mike27]

Why send a pitcher down when he is unchallenged in the minors? That makes absolutely no sense, especially when there's no replacements for Kennedy. Let him work through it, as the Yankees obviously see something in the kid that they like. If one of our starters gets hot in the minors, then call them up and bring Kennedy down if he's still pitching terribly, otherwise, there's no point of making a move, just so the Yanks can bring another pitcher up, so we can all complain about him.

[Evangelion]

Kennedys main problem is he does`nt attack the plate...hes forever trying to nibble the corners instead of challenging the hitter and letting the defense do the job

He did walk one batter during his start against Tampa. Even in a lose, he didn't issue a number of walks. Still, I did not watch the game. So, I can't evaluate his start against Tampa. At least evaluate his control.

Why send a pitcher down when he is unchallenged in the minors? That makes absolutely no sense, especially when there's no replacements for Kennedy. Let him work through it, as the Yankees obviously see something in the kid that they like. If one of our starters gets hot in the minors, then call them up and bring Kennedy down if he's still pitching terribly, otherwise, there's no point of making a move, just so the Yanks can bring another pitcher up, so we can all complain about him.

To work on the issues he was having. The practice isn't uncommon. Kennedy can dominate, but his job while in the minor leagues is to work on the issues he's been having at the Major League level. He can work on his problems at the minor league level instead of the Major League level. If you look at from a competition's point of view, Kennedy dominates minor league. That's good, but the ultimate goal to prepare him for MLB level. That's been done when he dominate all levels of minor league levels, but clearly, he has flaws in his game that need to be worked on. Kennedy can work on his issues at the minor league level, instead at the MLB level and getting hammer while he's working the problems with his pitching out.

[dougj1]

He walked 1 batter and hit one batter. He gave up 2 home runs. Allowing 5 runs in 5 innings is as bad as it gets. His ERA is about 9.00 and when you allow one run on average for every inning you pitch, you have a major problem. The Yanks have lost almost every game he has started...As I stated, he has not shown any progress this season, and continuing to allow him to pitch is only putting more pressure on the team which has enough trouble in trying to stay out of the cellar....I don't follow the minor leagues, but I cannot believe that Scranton does not have one starter (X-Igawa) who doesn't deserve a shot in place of Kennedy.

[TonyStarks]

I didn't see the game, but the stat line isn't atrocious.

He did make it to the 5th Inning. He didn't give up big innings. He only walked 1.
There was some progress. He threw 79 pitches, 49 for strikes.
There is some silver lining.

[steve rogers]

I thought Kennedy was better yesterday than he has been. He was almost out of the inning when he gave up the 2 run home run. The home runs don't bother me as much as walks. He wasn't going deep into counts and only walked 1 guy. He worked his was out of that bases loaded situation giving up only one run. He wasn't good yesterday but I saw some things I liked. One thought that came to mind when Riggans killed the ball for a two run home run was that he might be tipping his pitches. Riggans knew what was coming and crushed it.

Scott

[monkey333]

The wins and losses of rookie pitchers is never important.What is important is the progress they make with each start. It's obvious that Kennedy is not making any progress at all and should be in the minors for at least another year.Why he is here baffles me. He doesn't have a great fastball, great delivery or great control......It's unfortunate that Cashman cannot be sent down as well, since he's definitely not a major league GM.

Did you even pay attention to his start yesterday? He looked significantly better. He was relatively efficient and threw around 65% strikes. The finally line wasn't pretty but it really was much better. Consistent mechanics, pitchability, and his control/command have been his biggest selling points in the past.

[KCGHOST]

It is unrealistic to expect rookie pitchers to come up and dominate. They have to be given time to take their lumps and learn. And in the last off-season there wasn't much pitching available after Santana. I guess you can fault Cashman for not pulling the trigger on the deal, but the Twins were asking for a ton and you were going to have to pony up some serious cash immediately to avoid Santana from walking at the end of the year.

[clipper]

It is unrealistic to expect rookie pitchers to come up and dominate. They have to be given time to take their lumps and learn. And in the last off-season there wasn't much pitching available after Santana. I guess you can fault Cashman for not pulling the trigger on the deal, but the Twins were asking for a ton and you were going to have to pony up some serious cash immediately to avoid Santana from walking at the end of the year.

Hank will be watching Santana and think "what if". I am disappointed with Hughes and Kennedy but like you I was not expecting 15 game winners. I heard Cash did not want to renegosiate his contract this off season and wanted to wait until after the season. It may have been the other way around. Either way - I really feel Cash is "on the hook" for the pitching woes. This is his last year on his contract and there is a very good possibility we will NOT make the playoffs.

I do agree with Doug and feel Kennedy does need more minor experience. He really doesn't have that much experience in minors and came through the system too fast. I have no problem trying different pitchers in the 5 spot until one produces. I know Kennedy says there is nothing in AAA, but keeping in majors is hurting the team and I don't feel it help him either.

I would like to see Wright if Kennedy doesn't do good his next start. I was surprise Joe did not watch Kennedy in next AAA start (skipped) and give Igawa another start.

We need to be more patient with Kennedy but not in bigs.

Clipper

[johnnypapa]

You are correct in your observation. What I have never understood is how or why Cashman would start a season with 2 unproven young pitchers in the starting rotation.

Good question.....maybe trying to justify not getting Santana? And Cash will probably be out the door and the Yanks will be stuck with Kennedy and maybe even Hughes (I'm still a little doubtful about this whole eyeglasses and rib cage thing)....

[johnnypapa]

and give Igawa another start.

AAARRRRGGGGHHHH:dismay:

[Evangelion]

Good question.....maybe trying to justify not getting Santana? And Cash will probably be out the door and the Yanks will be stuck with Kennedy and maybe even Hughes (I'm still a little doubtful about this whole eyeglasses and rib cage thing)....

How many people wanted to trade the farm system away for Santana back when the deal was being discussed?

[sanket]

In the beginning of the season it LOOKED as if both Kennedy and Hughes were able to play at this level.

Hughes shut down the Indians in relief and really impressed me last postseason in our only playoff victory.

Kennedy was awesome last September going seven innings a couple times and even winning a game.

Kennedy made an improvement in his start against the Rays. He got to the fifth inning, he didn't give up any big innings, and he did some serious damage control during that one jam where had the bases loaded and nobody out (he only gave up one run in that situation and it was a sac fly).

I think him and Hughes are going to be just fine down the stretch, these are just growing pains that will be for the best in the future. Every great starter has growing pains. Hughes and Kennedy are both going to be great.

In a few years, they'll be winning 20 games almost every season. Just my prediction, I've seen the best of Hughes (the almost no hitter vs. Texas and playoff game vs. Cleveland) and I've seen a lot of good stuff from Kennedy as well. Both have tremendous potential.

I am glad that we made the move to call up Rasner and it's really going to help our chances of getting back into postseason contention.