jacksonianmarch

And I completely agree with that. But I dont think Hughes is stuck transitioning. I think he has shown that he can really handle major league hitters. He's inconsistent, as most 22 yr olds are, but he can handle big league hitters. My concern comes in with his revamped arsenal and his innings cap. I want him to reach the 150-160 innings mark more than anything. And I want him to refine the location of his 2 seamer, cutter and spike curve all pitches that are either new or tweaked from before. A goal for Hughes in my mind is having him comfortable with his arsenal, and capable of throwing 180-190 innings next yr without having the FO and Girardi have convulsions

that was prior to his last start. 2 starts ago, I was listening on the radio and they had the batting average on first pitch vs Lester. Last yr, guys hit .276 when they put the first pitch in play. This season, he was at .476. That is where that post came from

Millwood is pretty solid this season. Just as his contract is coming to a close at the end of 2010. He has always been a contract season pitcher

I am just saying that gamecast isnt always accurate with their location

you were gamecasting, right? So you didnt actually watch the game

it had break early on. Listen, his issue early on was the fact that he was leaving his sinker up and it was 88mph. Early on, his sinker was 93-95 and it was down. As the game went along, the sinker came up. Fatigue my friend.

his eyes are fine. He just sucks

you guys arent very smart, are you? Can you read?

Oswalt relieved 8 times in his rookie yr. Cmon now, you are reaching

Hmmm, who do you demote? Beckett is back to being a beast, Lester has been hot and cold, Penny is good for a quality start most night at least lately and Wakey isnt the best pen arm due to his unpredictable nature? Right now, in my book, it is between Lester and DiceK since both of them have been off this yr and they both have been pen drains. Well, that is if you go by merit. I think Penny gets the boot in the real world though. No way Terry drops one of his "guys".

so 70% of the good ones dont start out in the pen. So, therefore, the majority of the time, the better pitchers never get converted to the pen. Gotcha. Then why are you advocating it?

Wang looked very good early then flattened out the sinker in the 3rd. I wonder if it was fatigue since we had been wasting his built up endurance in the pen. We'll see. If this becomes a trend, then moving Hughes to the pen could have been the wrong move.

It is possible, but it depends on what you want to give up. Would you give up Tazawa for him? Would you give up Bard for him? He isnt going to be dealt for nothing and a lot of other AL teams would love to have him, especially if they think he would stay healthy DHing. There will be competition. I'll tell you this much, he will cost you one of your talented young pitcher. Either a Buchholz, Bowden, Masterson, MDC, Tazawa or Bard, unless the sox decide to overpower them with quantity rather than quality. Would they be willing to move Reddick? Kalish? Anderson? How about Doubront and Hagadone? The options are there, but you can bet that quality is going the other way.

They certainly could have started Joba in the rotation and then diverted as his innings cap came about. Also, Halladay is not a good example. Halladay was a 1st round pick, but his production prior to getting called up to the bigs was marginal to say the least. His production prior to callup would have warranted a bullpen spot. Something clicked in 01, after he had a 10+ ERA in 67 innings in 2000 and split the rotation and pen duties in 1999. The bullpen did nothing but screw with him. As for Johan, he is very similar. He was awful in the minor leagues, enough so to be placed in the Rule V. It took 4 yrs of coaching, frequent demotions and work on locating his changeup before he became a good starter. Neither of those guys had the minor league pedigree of Hughes and Chamberlain and both of them were given chance after chance to learn the ropes at the big league level because their teams were awful. It paid off in the end, but in NY, it doesnt work that way. The only way they will get better is to pitch more, not less. And by moving Hughes to AAA, he will be afforded that necessity.

he should be in Pawtucket, no doubt

Why are we even talking about the 2007 Rockies? How did this turn into a yankee playoff thread? Back on topic, who will the sox get to fill the role that Tex would have filled? I smell a deal for a 1b/dh coming up.

Chamberlain being the most recent example. They completely screwed him up last yr by starting him in the bullpen. But I rescind my comments on the yankees management for now. I see why they are keeping Hughes around. Wang is on a 75-80 pitch count. Now, when he's on, 80 pitches typically got him through 6 innings. But I do not expect him to be THAT good against such a good offense. So by keeping Hughes around for 2 weeks or so, we get a built in piggy back until Wang gets his pitch count up while limiting Hughes innings and getting him more big league innings. Once/If Wang gets back to speed and gets to the 100 pitch mark, I expect Hughes to be demoted. On a separate note, I am very happy with what we saw of Hughes. He really picked it up over his last few starts and showed the kind of swing and miss stuff that a former top pitching prospect should show. I am excited to see what he can do over a full yr after he gets a bit more work in on his new mechanics and pitches. If he gets through 150 inning unscathed this yr, then our rotation for next yr will be nice.

you dont need to come over here a700. You have your own forum to fart around in

1/4 with a walk, 2 runs and an RBI in game #1.

I dont think you know yet. But Papi sucks this yr

a proven playoff horse? I guess Andy Pettitte would fit in that category. But there are only a few "playoff horses" around. Hell, some of the best pitchers in baseball arent playoff horses. Roy Halladay, possibly the best pitcher in baseball, hasnt even been to the playoffs

just reported on WFAN. Wang is starting tomorrow. Not sure what this means since CC was due to start tomorrow.

take a look at y228's post and you might want to brush up on your english before you claim victory. Reading the posts you are trashing might be a good idea before you stick your foot in your mouth.

You could spin it any way you like it. I just think that, looking that the teams as currently constructed, I'd take NY. Since the return of ARod, this has been a different team. The pitching has a lot to do with it, but overall, this team has gotten a lot stronger. Tex got better, Matsui got better, etc. And, they dont quit.