New York Yankees prized farmhands Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy have both been on the disabled list since Bob Shepherd's high school days, and even some of the most ardent Bombers fans are perplexed at how such minuscule injuries could shelve the two rookies for such extended periods of time.
Yankees' manager Joe Girardi stressed last week that Kennedy (0-3, 7.41 ERA), 23, who had been sipping pina coladas since early May with a strained right lat-muscle before starting for Class-A Tampa two weeks ago, is no longer rehabilitating his wound.
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"This is him getting right," Girardi said. "He's not on the DL now. This is him earning his way back, just like the other 175 players or so in the minors."
Meanwhile, Hughes (0-4, 9.00 ERA), 22, is expected to lounge around until September with a strained oblique and cracked rib that was first identified in April.
Many question, with reason, how such benign scratches have essentially cost the Bombers ballyhooed arms an entire Major League Baseball season.
In actuality, the answer is quite elementary and simple. "Ike" and "Phil Franchise's" traumas are as legitimate as Pam Anderson's tits, and the Yankees' brass is doing everything in their powers to keep the kids from further embarrassing themselves on the professional level.
One will believe what they choose to. But that is the truth of the matter, and sometimes the truth hurts. Well, the truth definitely hurts more than the youngsters' nicks.
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about 1 month ago
I agree. I thought there was something fishy about these "injuries" as soon as they were revealed, but I think the Yankees are becoming more honest about the situation of late, as seen in that Girardi quote. These guys should've been traded for Johan Santana in the offseason when their stock was high, but now that it looks like they'll be in New York for a while, hopefully they can correct themselves in time for September just in case Darrell Rasner and Sidney Ponson completely break down.
from about 1 month ago
I like Kennedy and Hughes and believe that they still could be quality hurlers....But, these injuries are for the birds...The Yanks are saving face here.....
Thanks for the read Jordan....
My best!
about 1 month ago
Ok although i agree with the kennedy part the hughes part is completely false. It is next to impossible to play with a broken rib. Maybe you just have to high of expectations of him that you are pissed that he is not out there but if you really want him to pitch to form then he needs to fully recover.
from about 1 month ago
Steve,
I don't know...But a broken rib, that he doesn't know how he hurt, sidelining him from late-April until September?
He didn't break his back....He broke a rib...But, again, I don't know...I am not a doctor....
Thanks for the read!
about 1 month ago
Did Pam Anderson's breasts break her rib? Hughes broke his, as made evident by his not throwing off the mound until about 3 weeks ago...and Girardi said that Kennedy has lost his spot anyhow. He is not what we thought
about 1 month ago
First off, if you have ever broken a rib, which incidentally can happen with a phantom injury during something as minor as a sneeze or cough, you would realize it would be extremely painful to do any physical activity whatsoever. Hell, even breathing hurts. I cannot speak on the lat but assume that too would be a painful injury for someone hurling a ball thus using the muscle in a violent motion.
Second, what would the Yanks have to gain by sitting them on the sidelines. Saving face? Give me a break. If there was a problem with their mechanics they would be working down in the minors from day one. They would not take two young pitchers and have them inactive for two+ months to save face.
Look at some of the reasons pitchers have been out in the past.....blisters, broken fingernails, hangnails.
Look at some of the pitchers the yanks have dealt with in recent past.....Igawa, Contreras, Irabu, Weaver
If they didnt try to save face then, they surely wouldnt feel the need now.
about 1 month ago
What an embarrasing team.
from about 1 month ago
Yes, it is embarrassing to win 26 world titles and be in the race for a 14th straight postseason appearance.
about 1 month ago
Huge Yankees fan myself.....Don't know what it say about my life...But I either watch or listen to like 158 games a year and I have since Clinton's first term...
To all of you, thanks for taking the time to read my work....
Even you, Matt...You jackass.....
26 championships and been in the playoffs every year since 1995 doesn't equate to embarassing....
Embarassing is a team like the Sox that have won as many championships as the Marlins since 1918...Thta's pathetic
about 1 month ago
Embarassing is having your best player attack a front office guy over something so trivial: tickets...no offense.
As for Kennedy and Hughes...they should be injured in Minnesota right now.
about 1 month ago
Kennedy is at best a 5th starter type pitcher or a spot starter/replacement for injuries. He can't be a reliever because his pitches aren't overpowering. Yankees should convert Hughes as a reliever. He has decent fastball (tops 93-94mph), good diving slider which he rarely use and a good knuckle-curve that he can't control. Hughes control on all of his pitches is pretty bad.
about 1 month ago
By the way about the rib thing, I broke my rib when I had bronchitits coughing, it was the most painful bone I have ever broke and I have a long list (elbow, heel, fingers, toes, wrist, leg and arm). It took close to 2 months before i could move my arm around comfortably, just because there is no way to really prevent the injury from getting worse. I agree that Kennedy should be gone, but maybe we will trade him in the coming weeks, they are both still under 23.
about 1 month ago
What an embarressing article, if you choose to call it that. (Self aware Blog at best) Ian Kennedy is a hell of a good kid, who happens to be one of the best young pitchers in baseball. He doesn't possess the overpowering fastball of a Joba Chamberlain, or the "Franchise" tag of a Phil Hughes, but when he is healthy, and not overwhelmed by the pressure of being a Yankee Rookie, he reminds one of a young Mike Mussina. Hughes has a broken Rib. The idea that the Yankees have faked or used their injuries to "save face" is clearly absurd. The only things that the Yankees front office care about are developing talent and winning baseball games.
The poor start for the 2 young starters, (0-7) was a poor start. I want to meet the person who believes that the Yankees fake injuries so their young prospects dont have to earn their paychecks.
from about 1 month ago
I'm an enormous Yankees fan and I stand by, like many genuine Yanks fans I've spoken with, this theory.....
Like my piece or don't, I could care less.....
Either way you read it and I thank you for that...
PS- What makes you believe that Ian Kennedy is one of the best pitchers in baseball? Did you watch him at USC or something? Or, are you basing that on his three starts last Septmeber?
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