IPK Friday?

by matthaggs on Aug 3, 2008 5:54 PM EDT

Both Rasner and Ponson are no good, but Ponson has been slightly better, which tells you all you need to know about Rasner.

Rasner stinks, and IPK has been dealing for Scranton. Make the change.

LAA is not an ideal team for IPK to face, but it would be Friday night at 10:05pm EST, which, to me anyway, seems like the perfect way to slip back into the rotation. A lot less people will be watching.

Besides, don't they need to have at least some idea what to expect from this kid next year?

If he's horrible, they can turn to Hughes a few starts down the road. If he's good, they can have Hughes replace Ponson.

D-Ras had a couple of nice moments, but he's not a big league pitcher. Let's try to find out if IPK is.

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Even before the game...

I thought the odds of Kennedy pitching on Friday against the Angels were 50/50.

I still believe that after Rasner was garbage.

The only reason why I think they might hold him back for one more start is because Kennedy had a lot of mental issues earlier in the season and I’m not sure the team will want to throw him into the fire against the best team in baseball in their own yard.

I’m thinking they might hold off and pitch Kennedy against MIN or KC the following week instead.

by anaconda on Aug 3, 2008 6:21 PM EDT 0 recs

Maybe

But Kennedy has nothing left to prove in AAA. If he’s not ready now he’ll never be ready.

And Rasner has proven he can’t be counted on to pitch up here.

Plus, as I said, he would pitching late Friday night New York time in southern California, which is where he went to school. Even if he got clobbered the game would probably end too late for him to land on the back page, and I doubt there’d be much blog activity after midnight on a Friday in the summer. The Angels have some very good hitters, but it’s a lineup that can be pitched to. It seems like the perfect spot to me.

"Well, that kind of puts a damper on even a Yankees win."
-- Phil Rizzuto after hearing about the Pope's death

by matthaggs on Aug 3, 2008 7:02 PM EDT up 0 recs

Don't get me wrong

I’d promote him to pitch next week as well. I’m just not sure if the Yankee brass feels that way.

They pretty much acknowledged that his time away from the mound earlier in the season had as much to do with his mental/attitude issues as his injury. Word on the street is that Cashman and some of the higher ups in the front office were shocked at how soft he was.

I mean, they activated him from the DL days before anyone in the media knew anything about it.

We’ll find out soon enough. But I wouldn’t be shocked if they held him out for one more start.

by anaconda on Aug 3, 2008 11:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

Good point but

Its true you don’t want to throw him right back into the fire, but what if he pitches well, then his confidence will soar. But u could also be Mr. Negitive and say if he pitches poorly then hes screwed mentally.

"Hey Derek do you actually drive the Edge?","I don't drive that piece of crap!"

by Da Shiz on Aug 3, 2008 6:38 PM EDT 0 recs

I would start Rasner once more,

cuz I disagree that IPK has nothing left to prove at AAA. He has to prove his consistency.

However, I realize that I am most likely in the minority on this. So, if IPK does come up on Friday, here’s my condition: Girardi has to have a very quick hook ready for him. If he gets into a modicum of trouble anytime after the top of the 4th, he gets pulled. Let’s project this guy for a bit. Give him a chance to really succeed. Then, if Hughes ALSO makes a good showing late in the season as well, I will give Cashman a hat tip.

I always feel pressure. What I don't have is fear. -- El Duque

by LateInningRelief on Aug 3, 2008 8:52 PM EDT 0 recs

His consistency

has to be proven at the major league level. So get him up here and give him a shot.

Just about every start he has made in the minors has been a dominant one. There’s no point in leaving him there with starters as bad as Ponson and Rasner here.

Give the kid the ball.

"Well, that kind of puts a damper on even a Yankees win."
-- Phil Rizzuto after hearing about the Pope's death

by matthaggs on Aug 3, 2008 10:54 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’m on the fence about IPK. There is not going to be any patience for him giving games away in a pennant race. The pressure will be huge. If he blows it, it could shake his confidence for good.

How many times can you come up and go back down after being touted as part of the second coming?

Maybe we should try him out of the bullpen and give Giese another start. I’m against rushing him back and seeing him collapse again. It will not be good for the race, for the Yankees or for IPK. But at what point do you bring him back? I don’t know. He’s such a question mark.

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

by bxgrl1 on Aug 3, 2008 11:14 PM EDT 0 recs

I believe IPK should start Friday. Giese is perfect as a long man and did not work out as a starter and giving the ball to Rasner is almost not an option. The only thing that makes this a question about IPK’s return is that its against the Angels. Almost any other ball club, save Boston this wouldn’t even be up for debate. IPK’s confidence is back, hes throwing strikes and keeping BB low.

Looking ahead there is no “easy” club to put him in… hes going to be jumping into the frying pan at any point this month. Its either against the angels, twins, Tor, Boston (if the 5 man rotation stays same and he keeps pitching with Ranser).

by Dave Hunt on Aug 3, 2008 11:41 PM EDT up 0 recs

Kennedy

pitched important games for the Yankees last August/September. Maybe he thought that made him a proven big league starter and his head got too big over the winter. Who knows, but the guy who showed up in April wasn’t the same the guy we saw (albeit briefly) last year.

The second time he came up this year was a definite rush job. But he has been throwing zeroes on the board for about a month now in AAA. As I said above if he’s not ready now he’s never gonna be ready.

The bottom line is he is a better pitcher than Rasner, and I think he gives the Yanks a better chance to win Friday’s game than Rasner does. Plus, they need to find out if they can remotely count on this kid for ‘09.

"Well, that kind of puts a damper on even a Yankees win."
-- Phil Rizzuto after hearing about the Pope's death

by matthaggs on Aug 4, 2008 8:36 AM EDT up 0 recs

IPK 3.0

Haggs is spot on about IPK. Believe me, there’s a world of difference between AAA and MLB. IPK may have conquered AAA hitters, but he hasn’t done anything on the MLB level since last season. As many of you guys know, I am a huge IPK fan, and believe he will be very successful at the MLB level. But I was shocked at how lost he looked this season.

At one point, I began to realize his problems were less to do about injury, and more about his head—which can be much tougher to straighten out.

Will his latest at SWB translate? I don’t know. I’m hoping the confidence he now has will give him the foundation for success at the MLB level. I wouldn’t start him in Anaheim. They are too disciplined a club. I’d give Rasner the start and let him attempt redemption. If he fails, I give him his walking papers. Start IPK against a lesser foe.

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Aug 4, 2008 11:02 AM EDT up 0 recs

I am also

an IPK fan and I agree with Haggs that the guy’s got to be thrown back into the mix. But the Angels are a pretty tough lineup to get re-acclimated against. I would prefer he make his next MLB start against Kansas City. Can’t we queue him up for next weekend’s series?

I always feel pressure. What I don't have is fear. -- El Duque

by LateInningRelief on Aug 4, 2008 11:46 AM EDT up 0 recs

That would be my call...

I understand the trial by fire thing, but c’mon. The Royals would certainly be my first choice.

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Aug 4, 2008 12:03 PM EDT up 0 recs

me too. I’d rather start Rasner again (and I’d really rather not see him at all) than see IPK come up too soon. Start him against the Royals.

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

by bxgrl1 on Aug 4, 2008 2:55 PM EDT up 0 recs

The disadvantage there

is the Royals game is a home game, and if he walks a batter or two early the fans will have zero patience with him.

Even though LAA is a much better team, in my opinion he’s much better off starting on the road in his hometown in the middle of the night New York time.

Besides, his slot doesn’t come up that weekend. It comes up again Wednesday in Minnesota. Then they have two off days and don’t really need five starters.

"Well, that kind of puts a damper on even a Yankees win."
-- Phil Rizzuto after hearing about the Pope's death

by matthaggs on Aug 4, 2008 4:30 PM EDT up 0 recs

No need to get all Ed Whitson on us ...

Hey, if we’re calling the guy up, he’s expected to pitch at home and away. A home game against the Royals is better than an away game against the Angels. The Yankee fans want to love the guy as much as they love Joba.

He needs to pitch successfully at home and the Royals make the most sense.

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Aug 4, 2008 4:58 PM EDT up 0 recs

But

they would have to completely re-jigger the rotation to give him a start against Kansas City, and they would have to adjust the amount of time in between his starts as well. The guy seems Mussina-esque in the way he approaches his starts, so giving him more or less days off in between would probably mess him up more than facing the Angels on his regular day would.

You guys are the ones trying to baby him not me. Friday is his fifth day, the guy who is supposed to pitch Friday for the Yankees sucks, so give him the damn ball. Why are we overcomplicating this?

And while IPK certainly isn’t Igawa or Farnsworth (when they were both here), if you talk to Yankee fans they got pretty tired of his ass his first go-round this year. If he starts off shaky they won’t exactly encourage him to pitch his way out of it.

"Well, that kind of puts a damper on even a Yankees win."
-- Phil Rizzuto after hearing about the Pope's death

by matthaggs on Aug 4, 2008 5:15 PM EDT up 0 recs