Here's to hoping Hughes is a fixture in our starting rotation with these type of results for a very long time. :beer:
Hughes looked good tonight, hopefully he can keep it up. Melky had a nice game, i think he should be starting, hes badly outplaying Gardner right now. I like the speed that Gardner brings, but if hes not getting on base it doesnt matter.
For him to be in, somebody has to be out and guess who comes to mind? We will see it sooner than even I thought unless they decide to keep Wang on the DL all year because they don't know how to handle the situation.
The debate had to happen when they decided to have more starters then they have spots for. That and the fact the BP sucks and loses as many games as the starters do.
He looked great last night. His curve was hmy: . If we want Hughes in the rotation this season, this means either Wang is out for a while, or Wang is back, but Joba is put in the 'pen. Honestly, if Hughes pitches well his next few starts filling in for Wang, and pitches well, I don't know if I would object to putting Joba back in the 'pen.
Joba will not be going back to the pen. Period. I think Wang will have an extended DL stint, and then maybe come back and pitch out of the pen if Hughes continues to pitch this way. Next year, Pettitte will not get another invite to Spring Training though, and Hughes and Wang will be in the rotation with Sabathia, Burnett, and Chamberlain. Of course, Kennedy could always throw a monkey wrench in the entire mix, but you never know, Wang could become trade bait too.
I htink youre getting way ahead of yourself with the Wang thing-both the long DL stint and the trade bait thing. Lets see what happens. We're talking about a guy who won 19 games twice right? Trade bait? for who? an outfielder....who would it be?
As far as the long DL stint, there's almost no choice. If Hughes continues to pitch like he did last night (and like he does all the time) there's no way you can send him back down again. Wang has no options, so you can't send him down either. Like I said though, you can put Wang in the pen and wait until next year for Pettitte to retire. (I doubt they'll put either Wang or Hughes in the pen though.) Trading Wang is somewhat doubtful, and is actually more dependent on how the organization feels about Kennedy long-term. The Yankees could grab a windfall of prospects for Wang, especially if they choose to trade him before bringing him back (and risking exposing him as "done.") That would mean the Yankees firmly believe that Kennedy is destined for a starting role with the pro club though, and I'm not sure they're willing to take that risk. Anyway, I think the greatest likelihood is that Wang spends at least a month on the DL while the club figures out what to do if he comes back strong. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do if I were the Yankees and Wang bounces back. Obviously it's the best "problem" you can possibly have in baseball to have "too many" great starters, so there isn't necessarily a "wrong" answer, though I would say Joba going back to the pen is the wrong answer. A 6-man rotation maybe? I doubt it, but it could help cut down the number of innings expected of CC and AJ, thereby reducing risk of injury, and it would obviously cut down Joba's innings. It could help Pettitte avoid the late-season fatigue too. Hmm, thinking about it now, why not do this? Sacrifice one of those bullpen spots for an additional starter.
What I think you might see, if everything goes swimmingly for all involved, is that Joba will be moved to the pen around August if he's approaching his innings cap. (This, ironically, is the same reason he was originally moved to the pen and called up in 2007.)
Joba in a bases loaded jam throwing to one of the top 5 hitters in baseball, Cabrera, who is a .440 hitter with the bases juiced. I predict this to not end well. :\
