Via Ken Davidoff today -
What the Yankees missed most of all in 2008, you sense from talking to people around the team, is that intimidation factor one gets only from possessing a strong, deep starting rotation.
When the Yankees rode the bus from their Toronto hotel to the Rogers Centre, for instance, and knew they would have to deal with Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett and Dustin McGowan (before his injury) in the next three days, it took something out of them before they even saw a pitch.
So even though the Yankees allowed fewer runs (727) this past season than they did in 2007 (777), they lacked the pitchers – either big names or big stuff – who made clubs dread coming to the ballpark.
That’s what they’re trying to recapture, in addition to the obvious: tangible improved pitching.
“I think the intimidation factor comes from the performance. It doesn’t matter if they have a name,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Friday. “Last year, A.J. Burnett was performing. So Toronto could say, ‘Burnett, Halladay, Magowan – we’ve got those three guys.’ Tampa Bay, out of the blue, had guys like [Scott] Kazmir, [Matt] Garza and [James] Shields. Boston has [Josh] Beckett, [Daisuke] Matsuzaka and [Jon] Lester.
“When we ran into guys like that, there was no breathing room. We could go a full month and not face a layup. If the starters lined up properly, we would’ve had that. We had a rotation, in theory, of [Chien-Ming] Wang-[Joba] Chamberlain- [Mike] Mussina-[Andy] Pettitte.”
Cashman thinks Tampa’s pitching came out of the blue? Really?
Anyway, Ken Singleton talked about this during the YES broadcasts this season – the importance of having a starting pitcher going that day who you knew was going to give you an excellent chance to win the game. Once Wang and Chamberlain went down, and Pettitte got hurt, all the Yankees had last season was Mussina. And, let’s face Moose was a gift from the baseball heavens last year.
And, now, Mussina is gone. Pettitte may be gone – and he needs to prove that he’s healthy if he does return before you can count on him as being a near-ace type pitcher. Wang will be back – but he too has to prove that he’s sound. Ditto Chamberlain.
Given that no one knows if the Yankees are going to acquire any starting pitchers, for sure, this off-season, 2009 may just be another season where the Yankees rotation doesn’t scare anyone…at least not at the start of the season.
12 Responses to “Davidoff: Yanks ‘08 Rotation Lacked Fear Factor”
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November 23rd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I don’t know what the point of the article is. It mentions that the pitching improved from 2007 despite them having no one that is “feared.”
So if the pitching improved without having “scary” pitchers, then what’s the point of these pitchers who are feared?
And why are we talking about the pitching when it is clear that the offense let the Yanks down in 2008?
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Cashman thinks Tampa’s pitching came out of the blue? Really?
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ERA+ TBR
08: 114
07: 82
2007 Starters
Kazmir: 130
Jackson: 78
Shields: 117
Sonnanstine: 77
Hammell: 74
Howell: 60
Seo: 56
Fossum: 59
2008 Starters
Shields: 122
Sonnanstine: 100
Jackson: 99
Garza: 118
Kazmir: 125
November 23rd, 2008 at 1:16 pm
There’s a FEAR metric, now?
What about a CURSED metric?
Give me a break.
November 23rd, 2008 at 2:06 pm
The Yankees may not have had any feared pitchers in ‘08 but it wasn’t as if they were just losing to the Burnetts and Lesters of the world. They couldn’t beat teams like the Royals and Pirates, who hardly had scary staffs.
November 23rd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
What the Yankees missed most of all in 2008, you sense from talking to people around the team, is that intimidation factor one gets only from possessing a strong, deep starting rotation.
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Please. This is the same as saying you need great clubhouse chemistry. Everyone likes each other when they are winning. Teams fear facing a pitcher if he is doing well. People aren’t scared of Pedro Martinez anymore. Why? Because he isn’t good anymore; not because he lost some ‘intimidation factor.’
Would CC be intimidating? Even if he had a 5.50 era? Would IPK be intimidating if he had a 2.30 era after a few games? Do Phil Hughes glasses automatically make him not intimidating?
I believe this is why firejoemorgan was created. RIP.
November 23rd, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Also, since there is no “Cooler Talk” today, and this is actually quite pertinent to this thread, I’ll borrow from LoHud:
— Talked to three scouts who watched games in Arizona who all said Phil Hughes was throwing 94, 95 with ease. Now we need to see that in spring training.
If this is true (which I’m sure Steve and others doubt), this would indeed make Phil Hughes “more intimidating.” Is this a new Phil Hughes?
November 23rd, 2008 at 3:05 pm
it dont matter how fast he throws it if he walks 5 batters a game
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Right. We need him to last more than 5 innings.
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:49 pm
~~Talked to three scouts who watched games in Arizona who all said Phil Hughes was throwing 94, 95 with ease. ~~
LOL. How many times have we heard that in the past? And, how many times do we end up seeing him throw 89-90-91?
The Phil Hughes consistent 94+ MPH is the Yetti of baseball my friends…
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
The Phil Hughes consistent 94+ MPH is the Yetti of baseball my friends…
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Haha. I don’t know if I believe it myself, but I know how you (and many others) feel about Hughes velocity. And I always hate hearing what “a scout” (or two or three) say. The eyes or radar guns of such a small sample size is ridiculous.
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Besides, Farnsworth had a 100mph fastball, and it didn’t do him much good..
November 24th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Davidoff strangely mentioned Toronto in that article a few times. Yeah, they had better pitching than the Yanks hands down BUT their offense was even worse than the Yanks. Feared pitchers? Toronto had them ,but no feared pitchers. New York had no scary pitchers BUT scary hitters who became old and underperformed all at the same time. To correct last year, the Yanks have to adjust what went wrong first: the offense. But instead, they are going after CC, AJ, and Lowe.
As for Burnett, I heard Ricciardi on Evan Roberts this weekend and he intimated what I’ve been saying: that he is very comfortable in Toronto and you don’t know how AJ will pitch in NYC(I think he is soft and will crack). I wouldn’t be surprised if JP gave him the same money at 4 years, he would go back to the Bluebirds. If the Yanks go for a 5th year, they are insane. AJ will break down in the 2nd year of the contract if not the first, so be it.