At least Pavano is consistent
April 22nd, 2007 by Cliffy
From the “we all saw this coming” department comes this tidbit:
Carl Pavano tossed lightly with Ron Guidry yesterday and told the
pitching coach he still feels something in his right elbow area.
“He played catch at 60 feet and still feels it,” Torre said of
Pavano, who is on the shelf with what’s being called a strained
muscle. “We will do it again [tomorrow], and when he doesn’t feel
anything we will send him up on a mound.”
Translated: Don’t look for Pavano in action for a while.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:18 pm
The pathetic thing is - there are some Yankee fans on that Giants (football) board who were actually counting on Pavano being a significant part of the rotation. Those fans are even more delusional than Clifford thinking Yanks/Sox is “clearly the #1 rivalry in all of sports”…..
I’m pretty bummed that Pavano is hurt (yet again) - this may force the Yankees hand and bring up Hughes now instead of waiting - that guy has been putting up OBSCENE numbers in the minors and looks like the real deal…
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:32 pm
First, please tell me who *you* expect would come in first place if a nationwide poll was taken asking, “What is the greatest rivalry in sports?” Naturally, there would be a variety of answers depending upon a number of factors, most notably geography, but I maintain that the #1 overall response when all the votes are tallied would be “Sox-Yanks”. So who you got?
Second, counting on Pavano is like counting on Jason Johnson. Period.
Third, Phillip Hughes so far this year in AAA Scranton: 3G, 16.0 IP, 7R/7ER, 11 hits, 4 BB, 17 K, 3.94 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 4.25 K/BB, 9.56 K/9, 2.25 BB/9. And not that it matters, but his record is 2-1. The strikeout-, walk-, and hit-related numbers look good. I’m not sure what the league-average ERA is in the International League this year, but I doubt 3.94 is blowing anyone away… still, not bad there. I don’t know if the Yankees have him on any sort of pitch count or innings limit, but averaging only 5-1/3 innings per start would be a bit of a red flag - unless, like I say, there’s an explanation for that.
Hughes did get roughed up in spring training, for what it’s worth - but to Gonzo’s point, he’s been terrific in the minors coming into this point. He is the next “next Clemens” - so it’ll be interesting to see if he actually fulfills that promise, or at least comes close (given that Clemens is no worse than the #2 pitcher of all-time, actually being the next Clemens may be asking a bit much).
I dunno about Karstens, although I heard good things about him. Chase Wright is interesting to me. Yes, he gave up 4 HRs in a row, but he had the Sox off their game until that fateful point. Perhaps its just that they hadn’t seen him before, and used their first ABs to size him up - before teeing off in the second go around the lineup. Then again, he’s a lefty who throws strikes and has a decent changeup to go with a good-enough fastball. Given the Yankee lineup supporting him, he wouldn’t be a bad choice to fill the rotation.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Apparently they ARE keeping Hughes on a pitch/innings count.
And who do I have? Anyone that I mentioned in my post, plus possibly others - Army-Navy, Texas-Oklahoma, etc.
And, even if Yanks/Sox do end up on top, it wouldn’t be as “clear” as you seem to think it is.
Yes, there are millions and millions of Yankee and Sox fans (and no, I’m not counting those Yankee fans who are fans becuase they “think Derek Jeter is hot”), but there are millions and millions of fans of other rivalries, too…
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:57 pm
“Apparently they are” because his innings are low and that’s your assumption, or because you’ve read/heard that separately. It’s also possible he had two good 7-inning outings and one horrible 2-inning outing (for example) - whatever conclusions we’d draw if that were indeed the scenario.
If the Yanks/Sox end up on top, then it would obviously be clear - for the simple fact that I’m certain that would be the outcome. If the outcome is as I ascertain it would be, then clearly I’d be correct. I concede that other rivalries would (and should) get votes around the country - but my point is that more people across the country will vote Sox-Yanks than will vote Army-Navy, Texas-Oklahoma, whatever.
I googled to see if any nationwide poll was ever conducted, but couldn’t find one. Different folks have different opinions - those that agree with Tank and I (read: are correct), and those that agree with Gonzo (read: are ignorant sluts). For what little its worth, here’s the opinion of guy in Ohio… which I believe is home to Ohio State, one half of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry:
http://media.www.newsrecord.org/media/storage/paper693/news/2005/02/16/Sports/Yankees.And.Red.Sox.Provide.Best.Sports.Rivalry-865103.shtml
Purely anecdotal, I freely admit that - but how many folks in NY or New England would insist that Michigan-Ohio State was a bigger rivalry? Seriously.