Minor League Monday 4/7/08

Pitcher of the Week - Kei Igawa, LHP, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Triple A):

There were some fine pitching performances this week in Scranton, but only one of them could be described as perfect. The much maligned Kei Igawa did not allow a single member of the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs to reach base in the first six innings of the Yankees' opening game. Unfortunately, Igawa was on a strict pitch count, and the Scranton coaching staff decided to pull him after the sixth rather than allow him to chase perfection. Still, six innings of perfect baseball is impressive, and is probably enough to push him to the top of the list of potential replacements should something happen one of the major league starters. Even more impressively, it may be enough to keep me from cringing if that happens.

Hitter of the Week - Brett Gardner, CF, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Triple A):

I'll be the first to admit that these "awards" aren't always given to the week's best players. This week's best hitter, for example, was probably either Jason Lane or Brad Suttle. However, since I'm forced to write about whoever gets the award, I'm inclined to give it to the best story, and this week that's Brett Gardner. I wrote about Gardner back in my first Minor League Monday when he hit his first home run in two years. Thankfully it's taken a lot less time for him to hit another, as he went deep off of the Ironpigs' Brian Mazone in Saturday's win. Even more surprising was that this home run didn't sneak over the wall, but instead soared over the "371 feet" sign in right center by a healthy margin. Whether this is a sign that Gardner is adding the one missing element to his game remains to be seen, but you can rest assured that if he is it's not at the expense of his formidable speed. Gardner remains so fast that, even though he was in his home run trot, he nearly made it to third base before the ball landed.

A few extra notes:

• Those of you who check the box scores might have been worried by Mark Melancon's appearance for the Tampa Yankees on Thursday, which said that he left the game without facing the batter. If so, then you can put your mind at ease, as it had nothing to do with the oft-injured Melancon's health. It turns out that when he took the mound someone noticed that his name had been accidentally left off the lineup card by manager Luis Sojo, making him ineligible to pitch. Since then, Melancon has pitched 3.2 mediocre, but completely healthy, innings.
  
  
• Those of you who like to worry should feel free to do so for Trenton Thunder infielder Kevin Russo, who left the team and headed back to Tampa after doctors found abnormalities in his blood work. Here's hoping that it's nothing more than a little scare for the 23 year-old.

Spring Training - The Starters

40-Man Roster Players:

• Andrew Brackman (injured)
• Joba Chamberlain
• Phil Hughes
• Kei Igawa
• Jeff Karstens
• Ian Kennedy
• Jeffrey Marquez
• Mike Mussina
• Carl Pavano (injured)
• Andy Pettitte
• Humberto Sanchez (injured)
• Chien-Ming Wang

Non-Roster Invitees:

• Alan Horne
• Daniel McCutchen
• Darrell Rasner

As I said yesterday, there's a lot more going on with the pitchers than the catchers this spring. While the majority of the intrigue will be in the bullpen, there's still some questions to be answered in the rotation. The top three spots are, of course, set with Wang, Pettitte and Hughes. The fourth spot is ostensibly Mussina's, and he won't lose the job in Tampa, but considering how awful he was in the second half of the season, he'll be on a short leash come April.

The big question for now, however, is whether Joba Chamberlain is in the rotation or the bullpen. Hank Steinbrenner has said unequivically that Chamberlain is a starter, and I've got no doubt that that's where his future lies, but I don't think he's ready for a full season as a major league starter. Last year he threw 116 innings, most of them in the minor leagues, where he never had to struggle. If he starts all season for the Yankees, his workload will increase by at least half. That would be a terrible risk to take on the health of a very valuable player. Both Chamberlain and the Yankees would be much better served if he started the year in the bullpen and moved into the rotation a few months into the season. In the meantime, Ian Kennedy can take the final spot in the rotation.

While Chamberlain and Kennedy seem to be the only serious candidates for the fifth starter's job, that doesn't mean you should ignore the rest of the starters. If the Yankees learned anything in 2007, it's that there's no telling how many pitchers you're going to end up needing. Jeff Karstens figures to be the first one called upon in an emergency, but strong spring performances by Kei Igawa (who the Yankees have invested a lot of money in) or prospects Alan Horne and Jeffrey Marquez could put one of them at the front of the line.

Of course no matter who ends up taking the mound, I'm certain Carl Pavano will step up and pull his hamstring.

Off to see the Wizard

You might think that since I've advocated resting players to get ready for the playoffs, I'd be ready to slam Joe Torre for breaking the Joba Rules on Sunday. If so, you'd be wrong. The Joba Rules were certainly a great idea, minimizing the risk to a very valuable arm as Chamberlain adjusted to a bullpen role, and pitched more than 100 innings for the first time since his sophomore season at Nebraska. However, anyone who thought that the Yankees' were going to keep to those rules in the playoffs was crazy. So, it makes sense to get Joba ready for what might be a slightly heavier workload in the postseason. Its especially important for him to be able to warm up and be available to come in mid-inning. With his ability to get strikeouts, he is definitely the man you want on the mound in a tight game with runners on base.

In more entertaining news, after yesterday's game the Yankees left for their final road trip of the season, which meant it was time for some rookie hazing. As in years past, the veterans stole the rooks' clothes from their lockers and replaced them with new outfits. Last year, it was George Steinbrenner turtlenecks and blazers. The year before it was cheerleading uniforms. This year, with a dozen rookies, the Yankees' were able to put on their own production of the Wizard of Oz. Here's Ian Kennedy, Joba Chamberlain, Shelley Duncan and Phil Hughes as Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man:



Additionally, the Daily News has shots of Edwar Ramirez as the Wicked Witch of the West, Kei Igawa a flying monkey, Chase Wright as the Good Witch of the East, and Ross Ohlendorf as a palace guard. Plus, a guy by the name of Rob managed to get pictures of Igawa's translator Yumi Watanabe as a talking tree, and strength coach Dana Cavalea as the Mayor of Emerald City. Sadly, I wasn't able to find pictures of Munchkins Matt DeSalvo and Alberto Gonzalez, or of flying monkey Tyler Clippard and palace guard Bronson Sardinha. Hopefully I'll be able to catch them once they start their run on Broadway.

Thank God That's Over

We may very well have seen Mike Mussina's last start of 2007, and possibly the last appearance of Sean Henn in a major league game. There's no word yet on exactly what kind of roster shuffling is going to happen, but here are my thoughts on the matter:

Obviously Henn will have to be sent down(or sent home, since his wife is about to have a baby). There's really no point in having a lefty in the pen that can't get lefties out. Just ask Mike Myers. The real question is, who is your new lefty? The system is dreadfully thin on lefthanded pitching, with the only candidate in Triple-A being Kei Igawa. Its enough to make me wonder how Ron Guidry's arm is feeling. In all seriousness, the team might be best off simply using righties like Jose Vizcaino and Joba Chamberlain, who've been just as effective against lefties as righties.

One guy who should never be sent up against a lefthanded hitter, though, is Edwar Ramirez. Its a pretty small sample size, but his splits are pretty astounding. Against righties, he's thrown a very solid seven innings allowing only five hits while walking two and striking out nine. Against lefties, he's struck out an impressive seven in just three and two thirds innings, but has walked six and given up four hits, two of which were homeruns. Granted, last night's homerun came from a righty, Placido Polanco, but that was the first time he's given one up to a righty, and has been generally effective enough against them to have some value in the pen.

One guy who has been able to get lefties out in his career is Mussina, who will either have to go to the bullpen or the DL. Considering that no one's got any idea what's wrong with him, there's really no reason to believe he'd be any better in relief, so the DL would be preferable. Neither he nor the Yankees have said that there's anything physically wrong with him, but at 38 years old there's got to be something that needs resting. The candidates for replacing him in the rotation consist of guys who have either been bad in the majors (Igawa, Jeff Karstens and Matt DeSalvo), or who have never been there (Ian Kennedy and Steven White).

Fortunately, the schedule is on our side. With three off days, the Yankees should only need a fifth starter three times in September. Even better, two of those games (Septembers 1st and 26th) are against Tampa Bay, a weak team if ever there was one. The other comes on the 16th, the final game against Boston, which may end up being a painful affair, but its still much better than it could have been.

The schedule's also on our side in the hunt for the wild card. Despite losing the last two series, the Yankees remain only two games behind Seattle for the wild card, and have a much easier schedule from here on out. Other than the six games against Boston and the three against Seattle, the Yankees only play two kinds of teams from here on out; mediocre and bad. Seattle, meanwhile, has seventeen games against contenders, and finish out the season playing a brutal 24 games in 24 days, with only one day off. Right now, I can't help but think that despite the standings, the Yankees have to be the favorites in this race.

A lack of options

I wrote last night that I'd take a look at who might fill in for Roger Clemens on Tuesday as he serves out his suspension. It turns out that there really is only one option for the Yankees; Jeff Karstens. Ideally they could call up Ian Kennedy, but he's not on the 40 man roster. As for guys who are on the 40 man, Tyler Clippard and Chase Wright have both needed to go back down to Double A, while Matt DeSalvo and Kei Igawa will have pitched too recently to be ready for Tuesday. Considering how Karstens has pitched lately, I'm hoping for rain.

On the subject of Igawa, it looks like he may not be a part of the Yankees by the time Tuesday comes along anyway. The Padres put in a waiver claim last night, and the Yankees now have until Tuesday (two business days after the Padres made the claim) to either work out a trade or take Igawa off waivers. I, for one, don't really see the Padres willing to trade away anyone worth giving up on Igawa. He is, after all, still a lefty with good stuff that comes at an affordable price. Of course my read on the situation may be wrong, and if Cashman can somehow get his hands on a good reliever, I'm all for it.