Cashman: Maybe The Problem Is In Wang’s Head?
Via Newsday -
Brian Cashman said the solutions to the Yankees’ problems, particularly with their starting rotation, may not lie elsewhere.
The general manager said he didn’t have a sense of the trade market yet, with six weeks before the July 31 non-waiver deadline, but he said Sunday that the return of Brian Bruney from the disabled list Tuesday, plus the hoped-for revival of Chien-Ming Wang, would alleviate most of his concerns.
“If we fix ourselves,” Cashman said, “there might not be anything we need to do.”
He said he would run any proposals by general partner Hal Steinbrenner if it meant adding payroll.
Cashman said Wang’s start Wednesday against the Nationals would be a big factor in determining what happens next.
“We need Chien-Ming Wang,” Cashman said. “This is an important step. We know what he’s capable of. The velocity and the sink are there. Maybe his confidence isn’t there.”
To quote Bill Parcells, “You can’t dream up confidence. Confidence is born of demonstrated ability.” And, Wang has made 100 starts in the big leagues and owns a lifetime winning percentage of .692 in those starts. To me, that’s demonstrated ability. So, if he has a confidence issue, what caused it? His injury in 2008?
If true, why wasn’t he a mess in Spring Training? For the record, Wang threw 21.6 IP this spring with an ERA of 4.15, a WHIP of 1.34 and a GO/AO ratio of 2.11 – numbers that are not terrible by Spring Training measures. How do you go from “that” to allowing 23 earned runs in your first 6 innings pitched this season?
Something is up…and if it’s confidence, I’d love to know how Wang lost it and so quickly…
Early in the Season when the velocity and sink werent there and he out together three of the worst pitching performances in history. Thats where the confidence was lost. You really love to disagree with Cashman don’t you.
i agree… he might have came out of spring with a bit of dead arm which every pitcher goes thru…. and one or 2 bad performaces (which ive gone thru) can really get ur confidences down especially on the major league level when u havent pitched for a while
Pitchers are strange birds, Steve. Position players are much more reliable from nearly all standpoints.
I don’t think there’s an equivalent to “Steve Blass Disease”, for example. Rich Hill is still trying to recover from his bout of that with the Orioles this year. Hill was really, really good for the Cubs in 2007, too.
Given his miserable, miserable, miserable start to the season, I can completely see Wang struggling with his confidence right now. That said, I’m not entirely sure how it’s helpful for Cashman to actually say it aloud.
I wouldn’t sweat the confidence issue too much. He has his velocity and sink back, he just has to work on his control. Fine tuning.
It doesn’t help that his pitching coach said, “I can’t stand behind him”. And it doesn’t help that Girardi, et al have said that Wednesday is his last chance.