Jonas Schwartz and Scott Ferrall, yesterday on SNY’s WheelHouse, discuss Phil Hughes injury situation and Ian Kennedy’s fat pitches – and debate which is the bigger disappointment. Here’s the video:
Ferrall asks the right question for me: “How in God’s name did this guy crack a rib pitching?” (I still think there’s a story there yet to be told.)
For Kennedy, it has really turned into open season on his “stuff.” In addition to the WheelHouse guys, on WFAN this afternoon, Mike and The Mad Dog, as well as some callers, were directly questioning whether or not Ian’s stuff is good enough to retire big league batters.
Me? I think that Kennedy, if this season doesn’t fry him, still has a chance to be a major league pitcher. Hey, he might only be as good as a Bob Tewksbury type pitcher – but, that’s still a big league hurler.
But, it may take two or three years for Ian to figure it all out. And, if it does take that long, when he finds it, he will not be pitching for the Yankees.
4 Responses to “SNY WheelHouse: Impact Of Hughes Injury”
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May 2nd, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Well, I didn’t watch the video, but people need to keep something in mind: when Kennedy was DRAFTED, before he ever even through a pitch as a pro, his OWN AGENT said he was a middle-of-the-rotation pitcher. That’s his own agent, none other than hype-ster Scott Boras. Kennedy was always thought of, even by the Yanks, as a three-four type of guy. I guess because Joba and Phil were projected as aces Kennedy kind of got lumped in with them and people are expecting too much out of him. He’s not Mussina back when Mussina was good — people need to cut that comparison out. Just because they both bend at the waist to check on baserunners doesn’t make them the same pitcher. Mussina, up until 2003, was an ace — 92-93 fastball, plus curve, plus control. Kennedy has none of that. Kennedy’s future is at the back end of a rotation. If people expect more, they will be disappointed.
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I never heard anyone project Kennedy to be more than a #3. The critical point was that he could reach that status sooner than Hughes or Joba might reach their projections.
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Does this new partnership with SNY mean we’ll continue to be exposed to “ol’ gravel-pit”-voiced Scott Ferrall?
Ugh.
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Other pitchers who had stress fractures of a rib in recent years:
Tim Wakefield
Matt Morris
Sterling Hitchhock
Jake Peavy
I don’t remember anyone suggesting that Wake or Peavy did something untoward to cause it, nor compared them to Pavano. It happens. Considering the stress and the torque exerted on the body every time a pitch is thrown, it’s surprising that it doesn’t happen more frequently.