Monday, September 3, 2007
Ian Kennedy’s Debut
The Good: Kennedy’s velocity was a bit better than the “high 80s” thrown around by some in the prospect analysis community. In actuality, the range on his fastball was 87-92, which is more in line with the reports from Pinstripes Plus than anywhere else, so kudos to Patrick, Frankie, and the rest of the guys over there. The average velocity of the 54 fastballs thrown was 90.5. In addition to showcasing solid-good velocity, Kennedy had great fastball command. The home plate ump was a bit inconsistent, on both sides, but Kennedy did a great job of hitting the corners with his fastball.
Ian also showed flashes with his Vulcan change. The movement to the pitch was a bit funky because he places the ball between his middle and ring finger, forming the V for Vulcan. This was the pitch that he was able to fool left-handers with. Overall, he did a good job with this pitch.
The Bad: Kennedy also flashed his slider, curveball, and sinker on Saturday. On this day, I would say the slider probably showed the most promise. Despite that, I don’t think any of these pitches looked especially great (Don, don’t kill me). While the pitches themselves showed promise, Kennedy left more than his fair share of them up in the zone, so his command wasn’t great with respect to this portion of his arsenal. Fortunately, the Devil Rays were not able to take advantage of this and he escaped largely unscathed.
The Verdict: I was very pleased with Kennedy’s debut and feel he showed enough to warrant another start. With Hughes’ current struggles, I wouldn’t mind if the Yankees kept the 5-man rotation in tact just to have a better idea of who has the hot hand heading into October between the two rookies. I think Hughes has more long-term potential, but if at the end of the month the Yankees are in the playoffs and Kennedy has performed superior, he should get the post-season nod.
***
-The minor league season is, essentially, over. Austin Jackson was promoted to AAA as a reward for his great year and Marcos Vechionacci to AA as a reward for his hot finish. Both players will, almost assuredly, start next year for Trenton. AA will have its best collection of position player talent in quite some time between those two and Jose Tabata.
-The GCL Yankees won their league championship for what seems like the 12th time in the last 4 years. Jesus Montero, who very quietly had a good season, killed the ball in a small playoff sample. He hit .280/.366/.421 in 107 regular season ABs and then went 6 for 16 with a double, 2 homers, 2 walks and 4 Ks. Just a very solid year for a guy some wanted to write off so soon after being regarded as the best prospect on the international market.
-On a final, “funny” note, here at RLYW and within the Yankee blogosphere we’re all worried about Phil Hughes’ velocity. Hughes has been pitching at 90-93, touching 94. Within these same communities, we’re also all pleased with Kennedy’s velocity during his first game where he was 89-92. Over in Red Sox land, everyone is in love with Clay Bucholz. Bucholz is sitting 90-93. I’m not going to ignore that more troubling than Hughes’ velocity range has been his tendency to tire quickly, but for those who are dismayed regarding Hughes’ overall velocity…please calm down. Now, if only he could regain some feel for the change, we wouldn’t even have to have this discussion.
Comments
Hopefully he’ll do better than Clemens.
Every single time he goes out there.
Clemens:28 pro rated? Was it necessary?
Hopefully they win 88 and make the wild card. Significance? They won 88 in 2000. Result:WS win. That’ll shut up all the doubters.
The Vulcan change sounds like a forkball using two different fingers to me. Is that basically all it is?
I mean, that’s what it pretty much looks like in terms of grip. In terms of movement it seemed to have more horizontal movement than a forkball does.
<l>line</l>
I’m more concerned about Hughes’ curveball than his fastball. It hasn’t been the same, to my eyes, as it was before he got hurt. It’s probably not the case, but I can’t help but think that it’s possible he’s a little wary of it, given that he got hurt throwing the curve.
Bravo, Ian Kennedy. Boo to the team’s overall play. Ick.
A. Phil - I thought they won 87 in 2000…
I think Hughes’s biggest issue has been his control. Of all his pitches. I’m not too concerned, because it is (I think) not often that a player’s control gets worse - the Ankiel Exception noted - as they approach their prime. So I’m thinking it is a blip. Whether a result of the injury, normal growing pains, or a mechanical funk that a lot of pitchers get into, I do not know.
Yes, it was 87 wins. However, the situations are completely different. In 2000, it was a team on cruise-control basically the entire second half. I really feel that if that team needed 95 wins to make the post-season, they could have done that. If this team wins 87 games, I’ll feel that is closer to their true talent level (though the stats may indicate that 93 wins is what they should really be at). I still think they’ll make the playoffs and win the WS, but I’m not sure if I would bet any money on it.
hi
how
come
this
is able
to
work
but
when
i
go
on
a
liveblog
it
doesn’t
work?
whatever
the
yankees
won!
:banana: :banana: :banana:
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