New York Yankees: Brox Bombers' Pitching Bombing

The pitching going into the first month of the season has been horrible as the team falls to the Cleveland Indians tonight and fall below .500 for the season. The truth is that New York is no place to allow young rookie pitchers to develop into starters and win. The media, fan expectations and the expectations of the Yankee front office is just too much pressure for the youngsters to develop. Ian Kennedy and Phillip Hughes have both proved this point by not winning a single game so far this season. Not only have they not won a game but by pitching a whopping 70 pitches before the end of the 3rd inning in many of their starts all but doom the Yankees to a loss. When these two youngsters came up last year in the middle of the season they had no expectations put on them, it was all or nothing. Now that they have made their way into the starting rotation the pressure seems to be drowning them. If they were with any other baseball club they would have an easier time developing but the Yankees tradition is and will always be "win now!".

The second pitching issue that the Yanks are encountering is the progression of Mike Mussina. Moose as he is known is struggling with learning how to pitch without + stuff. He has to master becoming a finese pitcher making a living on hitting the corners and keeping batters off balance. The good news is that Mussina has tons of experience to fall back on and is very intelligent. It is my belief that he will make the transition in due time but until then it will be hit or miss with the Moose.

The third problem with the Yanks pitching is their middle relief. So far the bull pen has been extremely taxed due to the poor starts of Mussina, Kennedy and Hughes. When the bull pen has been called in it's usually for long relief and damage control which has happened too many times in this early season. With Bruney going out with a major foot injury the job falls mainly on Ross Ohlendorf, Chris Briton, and Kyle Farnsworth who have been beat up fairly well so far this season.

The Yanks are in big trouble if these pitchers don't fix the ship - their half way sunk so far. I don't see the Yankees front office (Hank and Hal) putting up with too much of the poor pitching. I'm waiting for pressure to be put on GM Brian Cashman to start hunting the market for potential trades - I know it's early but it's my bet that  a major plan of acquisition is going on as you read this article. I've heard the name of Cleveland's CC Sebathia come out into the light as he's contract is nearing it's end with Cleveland already.

The Joba Chamberlain issue has been a hot topic around the MLB sports anylast's table only due to the starting issues that have developed. It is my opinion that the Yankees are doing the right thing with Chamberlain and yet if the starters don't put the team in a position to use him in the 8th inning then all he will be is a golden arm sitting in the bull pen with Mariano Rivera. If he is to be put in the starting rotation then I look for him to be put in for long relief efforts to stretch his innings pitched and workload. I see him as a starter in June but we will see as things progress.