New York Yankees’ Youth Movement: Time to Take Off the Training Wheels
August 28, 2009 · Vito Calamito · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
So I have not written for a while, it has been busy, but I just wanted to make some comments on my FIRST PLACE New York Yankees.
First things first, I think Teixeira is a perfect fit. He is putting up MVP type numbers, and is a vacuum cleaner at first base.
Our Captain is having an MVP type season at 35, and is playing some of the best ball, both offensively and defensively in his career. Good for Derek, prior to the beginning of the, all of the writers and critics were saying his best days were behind him, and he is making them eat their words with one of his best seasons.
By the end of September, he will have the most hits EVER by a Yankee, and that is nothing to snuff about.
If he stays healthy, this time in 2011, he will have 3,000 hits, and will be the first yankee ever to do so. Congrats Jete, you deserve it. The entire lineup, from top to bottom, is producing, and everyone is having a great year, thus producing a six game lead (as of right now) atop the AL East. Our pitching has been stellar, for the most part, as well.
Now, let’s get down to business.
Personally, I am getting sick of Joba Chamberlain. Not sick of him as a player, but sick of him being treated like a child learning to walk. I understand that they do not want to risk future injuries, and shoulder problems, but I think that by doing what they are doing, they are ruining his production value.
Never before have I heard of this “babying” being done to Joba.
The way I see it is, what good is he if he is only pitching MAYBE every other turn in the rotation, and is as ineffecive as he has been in recent outings.
I’m a firm believer in what Nolan Ryan and Mike Maddux are doing over in Texas, where they are throwing pitch counts out the window, and stretching their young pitchers arms out in the minors. There should be NO pitch count. Only is the last decade or two has it really mattered, and somehow, 100 pitches is like a curse word.
I do think that pitch counts should be taken into consideration, but it shouldn’t be a tell all, it should go by how the pitcher feels, and how laboring those 100 pitches are.
I’ve seen too many games where a pitcher is really throwing well, but it is the sixth and he is up to 101 pitches in a close game, and the manager takes him out because his pitch count is high, and then the bullpen comes in and blows it.
Inning limits need to go out the window also. This is my opinion on young pitchers and the caution that goes along with keep them health and effective:
1. Pitch count should not be the rule, it should only be a small factor. If he is having a good game, and his pitches are still sharp and effective, and he feels good, let him pitch and earn his money. If he is laboring, and his pitch count is up, the obviously the signs are there to take him out.
2. Innings limits are BS. If they are hard innings, then yeah, maybe, but it shouldn’t be a tell all. Their arms will never fully develop to the work load, and it could possibly lead to even more injuries in the future. Let them grow.
Like a doctor today, everyone is a patient and a case, not a person. In baseball, everything is an investment. The Yankees are trying to protect their investment in Joba, but he is not responding well to all the confusion.
The Yanks have seemed to commit to him in the rotation, and that is all well and good. Everyone needs to stop that debate, and let the team make the decision with that, which they have. Now that is out of the way, so now let the guy pitch.
At times he has looked dominant, and at other times he is piss poor, and not up to snuff, and is going through growing pains. To put more stress on him, they take him out of a routine, which is not working.
Maybe it is less stress on his young arm, but more stress on him mentally. After all, it was Yogi and Casey who said, “Half of baseball is 90 percent mental.” Look at what happened to Chuck Knoblauch!
Let him pitch! Don’t screw with him, because I think they are hindering him. How is he ever going to gain confidence if he can’t work it out properly. Look at Hughes, he just needed to reverse to gain confidence, and has shined in his new role.
This writer personally feels that Joba is not getting that same choice. I know that he hasn’t logged that many innings in his pro career, but they have turned a pretty good four-man rotation into a great three-man rotation, plus two big question marks.
I preach, LET THEM PITCH! You don’t teach a kid to ride a bike by trying once, and putting it away for a week, you tell him/her to get right back on and try again.
I digress.
Thanks for listening. Go Yanks!
Yankee Tickets
Shop Yankee
