disagrees with you. Not counting Kay, these are former major league ball players that know a thing or two about baseball.

Hughes does have late movement in his pitches. So does Kennedy. It’s obvious to anyone who watches the games.

They showed replay after replay demonstrating their movement.

The kids will get better. I’m not going to cast doubt on them in the middle of April.

It’s early. Can you judge a player’s entire season in the third week of April? No, you cannot. If they are performing like they are now at the end of May, then perhaps you are on to something. As of now, you’re pissing up a tree. As always.

Regarding Hughes, I’ll let Peter Abraham – a far more knowledgeable source than either you or I – speak to your concerns about Hughes:

Where did people get the impression that Hughes had a 96 mph fastball? He usually sits 91-93 and sometimes brushes 94. He a pitcher with good command and excellent secondary pitches, he is not now and never was a guy with an overpowering fastball.

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2008/04/10/relax-phil-hughes-is-fine/

As for Wang, he had one bad outing in four appearances. Since you didn’t see his game at Fenway – and I did – I can state clearly that he dominated that lineup. Everyone else here would agree. And when has any major league pitcher in the history of this sport been dominant in every single start? Even the best pitchers performing at the top of their game get rocked every now and then.

The Yankees moved into a first place tie last night in a highly competitive division. I’d say they’re doing pretty well at the moment, especially now that the bats have woken up.

Name me a few people who said this? Not that I really care, because if he had movement the Red Sox wouldn’t have put such a pounding on him in his last start..

you could just have easily said the following:

“Wang’s amazing outing in Boston made me think he has developed into a more craft pitcher than in previous years. He was hit hard the following start in NY, but he can’t have no-hit stuff everytime out there, and atleast the yankees got the win.

AND: “Hughes has showed good stuff in atleast a few starts, but has been erratic. But this is certainly to be expected from the youngest pitcher in baseball. (plus you could have looked into his late movement/explosiveness.)

for IPK: It’s hard for a young pitcher to prepare for a game and then be told 20 minutes before gametime that he would have to wait a few innings, then only for there to be no rain delay. He underperformed, but given the circumstances, it wasn’t terrible.

for andy: good to see him putting away bad line-ups. if he wants to perform like last year, he needs to put have good outings against the royals. Also good to hear he had his best curveball so far this season. hopefully he can keep it going.

Bruney/Hawkins/Olendorf: Bruney certainly seems improved over last year. He has slimmed down and has an improved work ethic. Not only that, but he has peformed well so far this season. Hawkins has been better than expected after his first two horrendous appearances. We can hope he has found a slight comfort zone now and will be atleast slightly better than our already low expectations. Olendorf has been decent, and we can hope that if he can’t do the job that someone in triple A will.

you just look at everything with a disgustingly negative viewpoint. if you wanted to, you could try to look at the gladd half full for once in your life. Why can’t you be excited about the yankees pitching staff with the most promise and potential in many years?

**glass

Joba is a major talent with major stuff. I can say the same about Fausto Carmona, if you want to talk about young pitchers with great stuff and results. Kennedy is not even in Fausto’s universe and Hughes is not in the same league. If you want to talk about a control pitcher who is going to be an All Star pitcher this year then let’s talk about someone like Brian Bannister. I’d trade Kennedy for Bannister in a heart beat despite the age difference. Or maybe you’re so wrapped up in your Yankee world you don’t even know how good Bannister is.

I look at the quality of the stuff. Most pitcher’s even by Hughes age don’t pick up significant amount of velocity. Look at guys like Verlander, Felix Hernandez, Carmona, Beckett…They all threw mid 90’s at a young age. Are you going to tell me Hughes’ stuff is anywhere near what Carmona has? Are you going to tell me Kennedy has major stuff. Time will tell who’s right. At least someone here realizes how good Bannister is, not only because he has excellent stuff but may have the highest pitching IQ in the majors.

are 2 totally different pithers. Maddux is a future HOF because of incredible control and movement. Hughes is more reliant on his velocity. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. What an awful example.

It means I’m at one end of the spectrum (very good) while you and cash are at the other end (very low) when it comes to evaluating pitchning talent.