Growing pains comes with learning for West

Prior to the game last night, Marlins rookie starter Sean West talked about how excited he was to face the Yankees as a competitor, and how he wanted to stack up against Alex Rodriguez.

He did not get what he wanted on both counts. Rodriguez did not play, and the Yankees made his night a forgettable one as West gave up five runs and 10 hits in four innings. The Yankees went on to a 5-1 victory over the Marlins.

He was probably due to have a bad outing after several great starts, and it did not help that he was facing a team that hits the ball well. The Yankees have had problems against pitchers that they are not familiar with, but one has to figure they would eventually figure out how to beat an unfamiliar pitcher with the talent they have on offense, and that's what happened last night.

West simply did not have it at all. He was throwing way up the strike zone, which made it easy for the Yankees to hit, and he was behind the count often. Put the two together and it was a recipe for disaster for West, who had to throw for strikes if he was going to be successful in getting the Yankees out.

He gave up three hits in a row to start the first inning, and he did it again in the second inning, and as a result, the Yankees were able to score. West had to know it was not going to be his night when Angel Berroa and Andy Pettitte were able to gets hits off him.

The rookie tried to go deep into the game so that the Marlins' relievers would get some rest, but even then, he could not accomplish his objective. West gave up a walk to Jorge Posada and a double to Nick Swisher, and that's all Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez could handle so West was taken out of the game with no one out.

This is life for a pitcher who is still learning how to be a good starter. Every pitcher goes through through those types of outings.

A starter establishes himself as a good one by forgetting what happened in his previous outings. Often times, it's easy to learn when a pitcher pitched a bad game with the idea his mechanics can be straightened out, and if West watches the video of his outing, he will realize throwing strikes and trusting his stuff are an effective way of getting outs.

West has the potential to be good, and his starts have been a reflection of how good he has been overall. He has pitched well against the Mets, Blue Jays, and the Giants.

Prior to last night, West had a 3.00 ERA with a WHIP of 1.03 through five starts. The one thing that stands out with West is he can throw strikes, and he had seven strikeouts last night.

What he has to improve on is limiting his walk, and that will improve through experience.

The Marlins have to make a decision with the starting rotation once Anibal Sanchez comes back from the disabled list. Do they keep their struggling starter Andrew Miller in the rotation or they let West take Miller's spot? It's an interesting dilemma that the Marlins brain trust are going to have to deal with, and personally, West would be a wise choice since he gives the Fish a better chance to win than Miller right now.

West has the talent to be a good starter one day so the Marlins are better off letting him learn now rather than wait for the next few years. It would be good for his progress at this point.

Games like last night is just part of the process of being a good starter in the major leagues. The question is how he is going to bounce back in his next start.

The answer could go a long way to whether he stays in the rotation or not.