Wang Hangs Down the Middle Again in 7th Start

Once again, Chien Ming-Wang had another outing where he must receive some praise for improvement despite a rather ugly performance.

For the second start in a row, Wang went 5 innings, giving up 3 earned runs in the process.  Not a great outing by any stretch, but relative to his other starts this year, Wang has been at his best.

But is Wang, just one year removed from being the Yankees’ ace, at this level of play worth putting out there every five games?

I’ll remain consistent and say no, it’s not worth it.  The pattern of a 2009 Chien Ming-Wang start has continued, just as I said after his first start back after the DL stint.  The first four to seven batters fall victim to Wang’s sinker, grounding out in shame.  Anyone who is had, even once, by a guy with an ERA over 11 should be ashamed.

But after the first couple of innings maximum, Wang’s pitches begin to hang — the sinker especially.  Instead of cutting towards the dirt, his sinker acts like a batting practice toss and stays in the batter’s wheelhouse.

Take tonight’s game for example.  The first inning was absolutely outstanding.  3 batters, 6 pitches, 3 groundouts.  A painless, jubilant viewing for any Yankee fan, allowing a slight glimmer of hope to make its way out from the caverns of the mind.

The second inning began the realization.  Brian McCann laced a single into centerfield two pitches into the inning.  Next, Garret Anderson launched a pitch to deep center that Brett Gardner caught.  Casey Kotchman singled.  Jeff Francoeur flied to deep right.  And Kelly Johnson grounded back to Wang, but was barely called out because of a heads up play by Robinson Cano at first base.

The third inning is when it all came crashing down.  Wang gets two quick strikeouts, then lets up a walk to Yunel Escobar and walks Chipper Jones.  McCann and Anderson followed that up with back-to-back doubles, making the score 3-0.

He cut the number of ground balls in half from his last start.  For the majority of his time, his pitches were nowhere but up in the zone.

To Wang’s credit though, he only allowed one more base-runner through the rest of his outing.  Regardless, I will not have confidence in Chien Ming-Wang if he is liable to let up multiple runs, let batters make great contact and go less than 6 innings consistently.

Now the problem for Joe Girardi is whether or not to ever place Phil Hughes back into the rotation.  He threw two 1-2-3 innings tonight and has been dominant since going to the bullpen.

Hughes has only given up 2 earned runs in his 8.2 innings of relief.  Both of those runs came against Boston earlier in the month during an extended outing in relief of Wang.

Girardi will definitely have some issues with disrupting that.  But it’s a move that ultimately has to be done.  The Yankees, in the AL East, with an 0-8 record against the first place Boston Red Sox, can’t afford to have an automatic loss every 5 games.  Yes, the offense has been extremely anemic, but Wang’s pitching doesn’t help.

I still believe that Wang would be an adequate reliever.  His trend of 1-2 solid innings is more befitting of a setup man.  His numbers are similar to Phil Hughes’ in relief this year.  2 earned runs in 8 innings.  It’s definitely better than what he’s presented as a starter.

Wang is slowly but surely tying Joe Girardi’s hands.  For his and the Yankees’ sakes, Girardi must take Wang out of the starting rotation.

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