Time to ditch the Rasner experiment - It's Cutch time!

Historically, July 4th at Yankee Stadium has seen its share of great moments. In 1939, fans witnessed the greatest moment in baseball history when Lou Gehrig uttered those immortal words "...I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." In 1983 Dave Righetti threw a no-hitter against the rival Boston Red Sox.

The 2008 July 4th game will only make Yankee highlight reels for Johnny Damon's missed catch on Kevin Youkilis' long fly ball with the ball perched alone on top of the fence for several seconds while Damon lays helplessly on the ground. That long fly ball was served up by Yankee starting pitcher Darrell Rasner.

After watching Rasner's latest start Friday afternoon against the Red Sox, it is apparent that Rasner does not have what it takes to be successful in the major leagues. He rarely pitches above 88 MPH and his two pitch arsenal of moderate fastball and average curveball are not quality enough to get out major league batters on a consistent basis. Rasner needs to be extremely precise with his pitches, and many times he is...but because of his lack of velocity and full array of pitches, even when he is precise he can get hit hard.

Case in point during Friday's Independence Day game. Tie game 3-3 in the top of the fifth, runners on first and second with one out and Mike Lowell up for the Sox. Rasner goes 2-1 in the count and tries to get inside on Lowell. The pitch was right where he wanted it: on the inside corner, in on the hands. Great pitch by Rasner, but Lowell was obviously looking for it and banged a 3 run homer to put the Red Sox ahead for good 6-3. Despite the great location,  Rasner's lack of velocity allowed Lowell to get his hands out front of the inside fastball and pull it for the homer.

Although Rasner appeared squeezed by the tight strike zone of home plate umpire Paul Schrieber (Red Sox players thought Schrieber was tight with Hideki Okajima, too), several times during the game Rasner simply looked frustrated and lost on the mound. When Rasner was squeezed he was forced to come over the plate more with his pitches and was hit hard. Youkilis' triple (the long drive that Damon missed) was on such a pitch, the 7th pitch of that at bat.

Rasner simply does not have the good stuff and lacks tenacity to get by when he is not hitting his spots.

I was a big fan of the Yankees giving Rasner an opportunity to start, but it is time to extinguish the Rasner experiment, mainly because he is not that good and is not going to be in the Yankee future. If the Yankees remove Rasner from the rotation (and I suggest they do) they need to find another starter, one that is part of the Yankee future.

It is time to give Daniel McCutchen his shot at the major leagues. 

During his minor league Yankee career Cutch has been one of my favorites. As a college baseball fan, I actually saw him while he was a member of the University of Oklahoma baseball team, when during a nationally televised game he beat current Yankee Joba Chamberlain, throwing a CG and 137 pitches! Drafted in the same 2006 draft which produced Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy and current bullpen man David Robertson, McCutchen is a bit older at 26 than your typical prospect. But, he one of the rare players who was drafted four times and twice by the Yankees! In his pro career he has demonstrated a bulldog mentality on the mound by going right after hitters and is intelligent enough to change his approach when he needs it. He was promoted to AAA Scranton in late May and in 9 starts, Cutch is 2-6 with a nice 3.36 ERA. But, what is impressive is that he throws strikes (only 9 walks in 59 innings in AAA) and makes the necessary adjustments to improve.

McCutchen started his AAA career in less than stellar fashion, losing his first 4 starts with a 5.02 ERA. In his last five starts, however, McCutchen is 2-2 with a 2.30 ERA. McCutchen's two wins were both complete game shutouts where he allowed a combined total of 11 hits and ZERO walks! Both shutouts were against teams in which McCutchen had previously faced and had gotten hit hard. After yesterday's CG win, McCutchen said " My command was better...and I'm not leaving pitches out over the middle of the plate. I can't get away with that up here." McCutchen knew what he needed to improve and made the necessary adjustments.

These are growing pain times for the Yankees with their young pitchers. The buildup of quality arms in the minor league system has been cast since 2005 when General Manager Brian Cashman gained full control over the baseball operations. The Yankees need to dip into their young corps to improve their starting rotation. But, the Yankees can not give McCutchen just a cursory look and pull him from the rotation if he has a bad start or two. Young pitchers need to be given more than a start by start game plan and McCutchen's history shows he may need time to adjust to a higher level.

But, history also shows that when he makes those adjustments, he performs well and starts to dominate.

The Yankees need to remove Rasner from the rotation and let McCutchen pitch in the Bronx. He is ready. <!-- submit links are hidden -->