Igawa

by jscape2000 on Apr 4, 2008 10:24 PM EDT

Man, oh man. Remember I'd found a new favorite website?

Well check out the work they did breaking down Kei Igawa:

I really do not think, nor do many baseball people, that [Igawa's] problems stem from a lack of weapons in his arsenal.
Whether Kei Igawa’s current mechanics are what worked for him in Japan I don’t know. What I do know, however, is that what he does now will make it very difficult for him to ever get the ball down in the strike zone against big league hitters.
Bottom line: Kei Igawa never fully transfers his weight over his front leg [because his stride is too long].

I won't copy and paste over their entire article, but click the link to see a point by point breakdown of what Igawa is doing right and wrong.

What a great article.

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I really enjoy learning about

this kind of stuff. I really hope she keeps writing this stuff. It is really interesting to me what professionals see in pitchers. Thats why sites like this and people like Ronster are so important to the blogging community.

Crowds are won and lost and won again, but our hearts beat for the diehards.

by Edwantsacracker on Apr 4, 2008 10:38 PM EDT reply actions

Igawa

sucks. Cashman is an idiot for spending 30 million just to sign him.

by BillyBobisdrunk on Apr 5, 2008 1:45 AM EDT reply actions

BillyBob...

Could you please change your avatar to something non-political? I would appreciate it because politics has no place in this forum. Thanks.

by anaconda on Apr 5, 2008 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions

Kei

Kei Igawa isn't worth 1/2 inch column space. Waste of everyone's typing skills.

On a related note...
Anaconda: Hello IPK! Welcome back to SWB! The kid will be down by mid-May. This guy is strictly finesse and that takes serious development time...Sorry.

Now getting back to the Joba as set up man debate: Money game - who do you want to see in the 8th: Joba or LaTroy...? *Gulp*

by Bixby on Apr 5, 2008 11:16 AM EDT reply actions

Come on...

Don't hyperventilate. Kennedy is going nowhere. Bank on it. He'll bounce back next week in KC.

We are going to see one of the young kids eventually take on that 8th inning role. Regardless of last night, Joba needs to go to the rotation.

by anaconda on Apr 5, 2008 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions

That's the real question

Money game- who do you want on the hill: Joba, Moose, or Mini-Moose?

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Apr 5, 2008 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Gee...hmmm...let me think

Joba.

I think that Bixby is right in that Ike is finesse but not strictly finesse. It's a killer when his pitches *just* miss as they did a lot last night. And he was off but the refs were tough with him. Very tough. When you're young that's part of the territory.

Joba on the other hand has the capacity to take out Keith Olbermann's mom when he's missing.
He's going to lob a ball a mile away from the batter. You'll know when he's having an off night. They'll be wearing catcher's equipment in the box seats.

And I do see a lot of Moose in Ike but like Moose, when he's on it, he's untouchable. And when he's off, he's going to walk a lot of batters.

"The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided." -Casey Stengel

by bxgrl1 on Apr 5, 2008 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Honestly....

I'd take Kennedy right now, despite what happened last night. Joba is in bullpen mode at this point, but that will change later in the season. In July or August, I'd probably take Joba.

Moose has to log innings for this season whether Yankee fans like it or not. The team doesn't really have a choice because of the innings cap on the kids.

by anaconda on Apr 5, 2008 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions

there's more choices than that

It's not a Joba v. Hawkins argument. We have a lot of talent in the bullpen. We can get it done without either of them. It's not a simple choice like that and not an argument to keep Joba in the bp.

"The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided." -Casey Stengel

by bxgrl1 on Apr 5, 2008 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions

I could argue the Joba point

I could argue the Joba point more forcefully if I weren't sick to my stomach: Once again, we're getting our rears handed to us by teams who have no biz handling our rears (TB!!!) and I'm literally already ready to pull the plug on the putrid bat of Jason Giambi - who - to the surprise of absolutely no one - has come up lame yet again. Jason Giambi is the single worst conditioned "position player" (And I use that term reluctantly!) I have ever seen: he is more fragile than a tea cup. He makes Carl Pavano look like Robocop. He is terrible beyond description and an embarrassment to athletes everywhere.
I think I mentioned before that I was counting the games until his departure...? Strike that: I'm counting the minutes. He makes the Kei Igawa signing look like the best investment since the Louisiana Purchase! If the guy had one ounce of pride he'd retire and disappear a la Mark McGwuire. When I think that this turd is pulling down the second highest salary in all of baseball this year I literally want to puke.

by Bixby on Apr 5, 2008 8:10 PM EDT reply actions