Spring Woes Bring...

The split-squad games yesterday illustrated various woes for young Yankees pitchers.  Ian Kennedy was fairly sharp on the whole, but yielded two second-inning home runs.  Joba was good to most batters except Curtis Granderson, who plated two with a lead-off homer and a third-inning Granderson (triple).  Meanwhile, Kei Igawa continues to have this writer scratching his head as to why they ever signed him, coughing up three runs and five hits in three laborious innings.  Following closely on the heels of Phil Hughes' first struggles of Spring Training, one might be inclined to think that the Yankees' young pitchers will struggle, adversely affecting the team's chances for 2008.

Yes, and I don't think so.

Anyone panicking about the recent woes of Hughes, Joba and Kennedy needs to relax and be patient for a couple reasons.  The first, and say it with me, is that this is Spring Training. Players are working out kinks, at this point over a longer stretch of innings, and are incorporating and sharpening new pitches that still need refinement.  They're also still young and relatively inexperienced, so such days will inevitably happen.  They're kids, and kids make mistakes.  They'll straighten things out.  On the second part of the above set of concerns, I am not at all concerned about Joba, Hughes, and Kennedy's recent struggles being a sign that they'll suffer in 2008.  They'll undoubtedly have their moments when they'll lag on given days.  That's something that all of us, regardless of to what degree we wanted to trade for Johan Santana, had to expect.  Hopefully, this is little surprise to people, and that our patience doesn't wear thin on hurlers whose abilities and poise will in all likelihood make them mainstays of the Yankees for quite some time.

On Igawa, I'm not nearly as sold on the scenario I expect for the others.  This is a player with lots of big-time experience--and think what you want about Japanese baseball.  It's good, people, full of good ball players.  Igawa has suffered in New York for a few reasons, one of which is very likely getting his confidence shaken with his struggles the last year or so.  I'm not of the opinion that his tentativeness is merely a result of a different pitching philosophy in Japan.  Getting pummeled would wear on anyone, and he's been regularly pummeled.  Of course, he's also had a propensity for being stubborn when it comes to listening to advice from his coaches, and that has to change.  Eiland and Girardi won't tolerate that for very long, if at all.  But Igawa also shows signs of having poor technique,a troubling sign for a younger but still experienced pitcher.  His mechanics are far too loose and inconsistent, leaving pitches up and vulnerable, or outside the zone and getting him routinely behind in the count.

I'm less sanguine about Igawa's chances of ever making it with the Yankees.  He will likely start the season at AAA, since he hasn't shown any signs of being a reliable lefty option out of the bullpen.  Starting the season in Scranton will also provide him regular work, which he certainly wouldn't get in New York.  Plus, other lefties such as Billy Traber have been far more impressive.  I had my eye on Traber early in camp, mainly because he was a lefty who was getting outs.  Again, this is Spring Training, and there are two weeks remaining at that.  But regardless of the $46 million the Yankees wasted invested in Igawa, it only makes sense to go with the guy who's actually retiring batters and preventing them from scoring.  That's been Traber. I'm not of the opinion that having a lefty as some sort of bullpen talisman is better than having good righties.  Yet the Yankees don't have tons of reliable right-handed relievers, either, making Traber's chances all the better.  He could fall on his face the last couple weeks, but he's still far ahead of many other lefties, including Heath Phillips and Igawa.  Don't be surprised to see Traber up with the Yanks.  Girardi has already added him to the 40-man roster, a sure sign that they expect him in The Bronx at some point.

Not to worry folks.  All will be well.