Yankees Analysis: The Yankees Kei Igawa Solution

I'm not one to criticize the Yankees, but here's a move that I find questionable. They purchased Kei Igawa from the Hanshin Tigers in Japan.

It was a gamble, just like the Red Sox acquisition of Daisuke Matsuzaka, but it did not pay off. The Yankees locked up Kei to a five-year, $20 million deal in late 2006. The Yankees need to do something to relinquish that contract to Kei.

I respect the man fully and his commitment to the game.  I probably couldn't perform on the mound anything like he can. However, Igawa is not Major League material.  He wasn't able to make the transition from Japan to the majors.

It's actually a little surprising considering that his and Daisuke's numbers weren't too far off in the Japanese league.  My prediction was pretty accurate last year for Daisuke, but I was way off on Igawa.  I estimated he'd have a mid-four ERA and a record of 14-9. Obviously this was a mistake.

Unless he makes some drastic change, I see no reason for keeping him around. He gave up four ER in one inning to University of Southern Florida college students. If that's not an indicator of what his skills are, then I don't know what is.

Truly, all of his ratios are not good, ERA, HR:IP, BB:IP, Hits... all below the "accepted" standard for a quality pitcher.

I do all the complaining, but provide no solutions.  Well, here's the solution:

If there's one thing that Igawa can work on, it's his changeup. As much as everything else is subpar, his change up can be devastating if used correctly.

If he can spot it on the outside corner during the right count in the AB, he can up his strikeouts and lower his hits and ERA. Those will either get a lot of ground balls or high pop-ups.

Also, if he can develop his fastball a little bit more, the change up will become that much more effective. Besides that, control is Igawa's major flaw. A well-placed fastball is still the best pitch in baseball, but the key is location.

If he can spot the fastball and change up, he can become an effective inning-eater. The thing I do like is the hesitation in his pitching delivery. If he uses that to his advantage and changes the timing of it, then he can keep hitters off balance. 

I hope this offers some insight into the workings of Kei Igawa—and how the Yankees can utilize him to make their organization better.