Archive for Chien-Ming Wang
Wang, fearing surgery, gets an ominous third opinion
Posted by: | CommentsWhile the Yanks behind ace CC Sabathia were busy dispatching the A’s, the Front Office had to face some bad news concerning Chien-Ming Wang. After receiving a second opinion from Dr. David Altchek on Wang’s shoulder, the team will consult with Dr. James Andrews as well. Wang himself fears the worst.
Bryan Hoch summarized the bad news late last night:
Chien-Ming Wang is concerned that his 2009 season may be over, having sought a second opinion as he continues to feel discomfort in his right shoulder, and now Dr. James Andrews will get his chance to take a look.
Wang visited on Wednesday with Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York after suffering a setback earlier in the week while playing catch, and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met with team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad on Thursday to discuss Wang’s situation.
After reviewing Altchek’s findings, the Yankees are next set to confer with Andrews before discussing Wang’s status further. But at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, the 29-year-old Wang said that he is worried that surgery may be necessary. “I don’t know,” Wang said. “The shoulder, the day I played catch, it still feels the same.”
It is worth noting that both Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte have consulted with Dr. Andrews, and neither needed surgery. Wang, however, does not sound like a man confident in his 2009 pitching future, and we all saw this coming.
As Wang struggled early this year after a decent Spring Training, the Yanks tried to blame weak legs and a weak core for Wang’s struggles. Our pitch f/x analysis however — here and here — told a different story. Wang wasn’t releasing the ball where he should have been. When he was a dominant pitcher in 2007, his release point was lower and closer to his body. This year, it was up high and further away. Something was wrong.
Now the Yankees know what it is and the extent of the damage, and soon enough, the rest of us will too. At this point, the Yankees aren’t expecting anything from Wang this year, but they have a larger problem on their hands. With Wang out, Joba nearing his innings and Phil Hughes firmly ensconced in the bullpen, their once-vaunted pitching depth has withered its way down to Sergio Mitre and — I shudder to type it — Kei Igawa.
The Yankees will soon have to get creative, and they will have to acquire a pitcher for the rest of 2009 and into 2010. If Wang’s shoulder is truly as damaged as it sounds, he could be facing surgery and a 10- or 12-month rehab stint. With the trade deadline seven days away, Brian Cashman is probably already on the phone, hunting for that arm the Yanks now need.
Game 95 Spillover Thread II with Wang update
Posted by: | CommentsAs the Yanks and the A’s play late into the night, the Yankees have issued an update on injured right-hander Chien-Ming Wang. The erstwhile ace was scheduled to throw tomorrow, but his shoulder has not improved since he shut it down earlier this week. And so the Yanks and Wang will now consult with Dr. James Andrews.
To be clear, Wang isn’t getting checked out by Andrews. He was seen by Dr. David Altchek earlier today, but the Yanks want to consult with Andrews before releasing the results and establishing a rehab plan for Wang. The worst-case scenario is, of course, surgery which would probably knock Wang out for most, if not all, of 2010. It’s amazing to see the cascade effect of one Lisfranc injury and some obviously bad mechanics from Wang.
Anyway, the game continues as the Yanks have put up a four-spot in the fourth. We’ll have more on Wang tomorrow morning.
Pondering Wang’s — and the Yanks’ — future
Posted by: | CommentsA couple of hours before the Yanks and Orioles squared off last night, the Yankees announced a setback for Chien-Ming Wang. Their erstwhile ace, on the DL since July 4 with a strained right shoulder, had experienced some bicep pain during a throwing session, and the Yanks no longer sound certain they will get any contribution from Wang this season.
“It’s not exactly the news that I wanted,” Joe Girardi said to reporters. “We were hoping two weeks’ rest would be enough for him to get on a throwing program. Does it mean he won’t pitch this year? No, I’m not saying that. But obviously, it’s not going to be as soon as we thought.”
During the pre-game news conference, Girardi hinted that Wang’s rotator cuff may be suffering as part of this amorphous shoulder strain. “I think anytime you’re dealing with cuff issues or shoulder tendinitis or whatever you want to describe it as, there is concern,” Girardi said. “Whatever he is able to do, we would love to have. But I think anytime someone is injured and you’re not sure when they’re exactly going to be back, you can’t count on them.”
For the Yankees, these apparent injuries justify what had been a controversial off-season tactic. For the last few seasons, the Yankees have opted not to sign Wang to a long-term contract. Rather, they have gone year-to-year with the arbitration-eligible pitcher. They did so because Wang’s peripherals did not necessarily predict future success and because the pitcher, as we’ve seen, is volatile. If Wang is out for the rest of the year, he will have gone 1-6 with a 9.34 ERA over just 42 innings since June 15, 2008.
Meanwhile, the Yanks have some other pitching questions to resolve. In writing about Wang today in The Times, Tyler Kepner explores how the Yanks’ rotation depth is suffering with Wang out:
Wang had pitched decently in his last few starts, and Girardi acknowledged that the latest setback was another reason to be concerned about rotation depth. After Mitre, the Yankees’ next option in the minors is Kei Igawa, who has repeatedly failed in the majors.
Relievers Phil Hughes and Alfredo Aceves are natural starters, but Hughes has become so entrenched in short relief that Girardi said he could throw no more than 40 pitches now. Adding 15 pitches an outing, it would take Hughes four appearances before he could throw 100 pitches.
That is not an easy or appealing option, especially because Hughes has been invaluable in the bullpen. Entering Monday, he had a streak of 19 scoreless innings, the longest by a Yankee since Mariano Rivera’s 23-inning streak in 2005, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
It’s far too early to write off Sergio Mitre. He hasn’t even thrown a pitch as a member of the New York Yankees, but my expectations aren’t high. Beyond Mitre, Kepner’s mention of Igawa is enough to make me want to curl up in a corner in the fetal position.
The answer though is staring the Yanks in the face. Sure, Phil Hughes’ 19 scoreless innings of the pen is an impressive number, but good pitchers make for great relievers. If the Yanks truly expect nothing from Chien-Ming Wang right now, the team would be far better off moving Hughes into the rotation. He may be on a pitch count, but it’s easy to stretch him.
First, the Yanks can have him duplicate what he did on Friday. That evening, he threw 40 pitches out of the pen. The Yanks could then have him make a 65-pitch start as they were willing to do with Alfredo Aceves prior to the All Star break. The 80-pitch outing leaves the bullpen in limbo, but with Brett Tomko still on the active roster and Mark Melancon ready to hop on the Scranton shuttle, the Yankees have some flexibility. That would do it.
As for the late-inning relief efforts, the Yankees still have Phil Coke and Alfredo Aceves ready, willing, and able to get the job done. It’s very tempting to keep Hughes in the late innings as a band-aid, but the Yankees need starters. Maybe Sergio Mitre can cut it, but Phil Hughes is the future while Mitre is a place-holder for Wang.
If Wang is out, if the Yanks are truly short in the rotation, it’s time to stretch out Hughes. He has the experience and the confidence. Now, all he needs is the work and the innings.
Marte rehab tour heads to Scranton — UPDATE: Wang feels pain
Posted by: | CommentsCould the Yankees be getting lefty reliever Damaso Marte back in the near future? He started a rehab assignment last week, and while it got off to a sputtering start, he cruised through his second appearance. Carig tweets that Marte’s next stop is in Scranton on Tuesday. The Yanks have plenty of time to evaluate Marte — his rehab assignment can last through mid-August — and it looks like they’re eager to see how he fares against the best minor league competition. There’s nothing further on when he’ll return, but I’d assume the Yanks want to see him on back to back days first.
Update: It seems Chien-Ming Wang felt pain today while throwing. PeteAbe said Girardi mentioned the rotator cuff, while Hoch says biceps soreness. Either way it’s not a good deal. Girardi then went on to say that Aceves would be easier than to return to the rotation at this point. Which brings up an important question: Do you make the easier move or the better move? I find it hard to believe that even the most staunch B-Hughesers would think that Aceves would be better in the rotation than Hughes.
Wang, pain free, to begin throwing program on Monday
Posted by: | CommentsThe headline says it all, and Marc Carig has the news. After being sidelined since July 5 with a right shoulder strain, Chien-Ming Wang will play catch on Monday. While he has been receiving treatment on the shoulder, this tossing will be Wang’s first try at some baseball activities. The Yanks plan to take it slow with Wang and will not target a return date yet. Considering how little faith we collectively have in Sergio Mitre, the sooner Wang returns the better.
First Half Review: Starting Pitchers
Posted by: | CommentsAt 51-37, with the third best record in baseball, leading the Wild Card and just three games back in the AL East, the Yankees had a fine first half. Yet it was a tumultuous three months, wrought with streaks and injuries and strange trends, causing mass panic at times among Yankees fans. Over the extended All-Star Break, we’ll go over each position to see what went right, what went wrong, and how things look for the second half. First up: starting pitching.
The expectations
The Yankees went into the 2008-2009 off-season focussed on adding a couple of starters. They got their guys in CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. After protracted negotiations they also brought back Andy Pettitte to anchor the back end of the rotation. Sabathia, Burnett, Wang, Pettitte, and Chamberlain looked as formidable as any rotation in the AL heading into the season. Plus, Phil Hughes waited in the wings as a viable backup plan. Fans could justifiably expect big things from these guys.
The results
The staff wasn’t quite as dominant as we’d hoped, with each starter hitting a rocky path with varying degrees of severity. It led to some ugly results. The Yankees starters have combined for a 4.76 ERA through 88 games, which ranks 12th in the AL, besting only Baltimore and Cleveland. They’ve averaged under six innings per start, which is bad, and lead the AL in walks, which is really bad. It’s safe to say that the rotation has not lived up to expectations so far.
Part of that rests on the shoulders of Chien-Ming Wang, whose first three starts were so historically bad that they skew the numbers of the staff overall. I won’t remove them here, since they did happen. Still, even if we did remove them, the Yanks would still be at or near the top of the league in walks, and still probably wouldn’t be at six innings per start. Wang’s ineffectiveness is no excuse for the whole staff.
There were some bright spots, of course, so we’ll hand out props and boos to each individual starter.
CC Sabathia
Signed as the ace, CC has mostly lived up to expectations. He got off to a rocky start, as seems to be his calling card. He did manage one gem among his April starts, but that was against the pathetic Kansas City Royals. He found his mojo in May, though, coinciding with the return of A-Rod. Since then he’s 7-3 with a 3.43 ERA, throwing 65 percent of his pitches for strikes and holding opposing hitters to a .218 batting average. If he keeps that up through the second half — and over his career this seems to be the case — he’ll continue to be the workhorse ace the Yankees signed him as.
A.J. Burnett
A.J. had his peaks and valleys early on, leading many to continue questioning the signing. Fans were especially vocal after he blew a game against the Red Sox in which the Yanks got out to an early lead against Josh Beckett. A.J. fanned the flames again when he couldn’t get out of the third inning in the repeat trip to Fenway. Since then, Burnett has been the best starter on the staff, going 4-1 with a 1.34 ERA in five starts. This is the Burnett the Yankees signed. Like Sabathia, Burnett has historically had slightly better second half numbers than first half. If he sticks to the trend, the Yanks will be set atop the rotation.
Chien-Ming Wang
It was tough to gauge how effective Chien-Ming Wang would be after suffering a lisfranc injury last June. He seemed fine, but not great, in Spring Training, leaving few worries as the season opened. But then he sputtered in his first start, surrendering seven runs to the Orioles. His next start was so short that the Yankees called on Nick Swisher to pitch an inning when the game was far out of hand. His third start led to the worst drubbing of the year. The Yankees then placed him on the DL, giving him a chance to recover more fully from his injury. Then they rushed him back, and had to put him in the rotation at the expense of Phil Hughes, who had just started to pitch well in that spot.
Wang currently resides on the 15-day DL with a shoulder strain, and the severity of the injury is unclear. He’ll work his way back, but it’s tough for any Yankees fans to have faith in Wanger this year. He’ll have to earn back trust not only from the fans — which is mostly meaningless — but of the front office and coaching staff.
Andy Pettitte
Heading into the season, Pettitte was viewed as the team’s fifth best starter. To this point, he’s mostly pitched like it. He’s had his good starts, and on those days it’s easy to forget his bad starts. But when he’s bad, he takes the team out of the game. Andy likes to blame the new Yankee Stadium for his woes, but his last clunker was on the road. Pettitte is another guy who has historically been better in the second half, but at age 37 one has to wonder whether he can continue that trend this year.
Yet another Yankee with ups and downs. He got lucky in some of his earlier starts, as he kept the team in the game while not throwing enough innings, not throwing enough strikes, and not throwing his pitches with the conviction we’ve seen in the past. He’s had starts that make us remember how he pitched as a starter last year, ramping up his fastball to that familiar 97 range, but for most of his starts he’s sat much slower on the gun. He’s turned himself into essentially a two-pitch pitcher, throwing either a fastball or a slider 87 percent of the time. He’ll need to work in his curveball and changeup more often to find success. Thankfully, even though he was bombed last time out, his fastball was up in the 94 mph range, which is probably where it should be as a starter.
Phil Hughes
In the second inning of Phil Hughes’s start against Baltimore on May 8, fans hung their heads and groaned, “not this again!” Hughes looked like he did last year, having trouble finding the plate and giving up hit after hit. He struggled through his next few starts before shutting down Texas for eight innings. It looked like he was finding his way, but after a rough subsequent outing against Cleveland the Yankees moved Hughes to the bullpen in favor of Chien-Ming Wang. He’s been lights out since the transition, which is a good sign, but it appears he’ll stay there for now even though the Yankees need another starter. We can only hope Hughes has learned a thing or two out there and that he’ll put it to work when he returns to the rotation next year (though hopefully this year).
Expectations for the second half
With so many pitchers on the staff who have historically pitched better in the second half, it’s tough to not have heightened expectations — especially considering how mediocre they were as a staff in the first half. They might not live up to those expectations, but we’re right to have them. The Yankees rotation has not been as good as advertised, and they’ll absolutely need to be in the second half if the team is to retake the division.
What to do with the fifth starter spot?
Posted by: | CommentsOnce Chien-Ming Wang left yesterday’s game in the sixth after pointing to his shoulder, this post was inevitable. The Yanks will have a few decisions to make in the next few days. They’ll need a spot starter this Thursday in Minnesota, but then won’t need him again until July 21st. So what will the Yanks do to plug this hole both short- and long-term?
The Yanks will go the rest and rehab route with Wang, and Girardi said he expects him to be back this season. The feeling around the clubhouse is that Wang could be back in a month or so. Even so, the Yanks will need at least four appearances from a fifth starter: this Thursday, then three times after the All-Star break before they have another off-day.
Phil Hughes is the obvious choices, as the Yanks bumped him from the rotation for Wang in the first place. But if being stretched out is a concern for the Yanks, it would appear Alfredo Aceves would be the man for Thursday. He and Tomko are the only Yanks bullpen arms who have gone multiple innings with any regularity, and there’s no chance Tomko gets the start.
After yesterday’s game, Joe Girardi said of Aceves and Hughes: “They’re not in a position where you could run them out for 90 or 100 pitches.” He said Aceves could likely go 50 to 60, and Hughes 45-50. Again, the Yankees would have a chance to stretch out either one for the July 21st start, but may be reluctant to do so for Thursday’s.
One interesting name is Sergio Mitre. He’s been rehabbing and working back from Tommy John surgery down in Scranton, and has pitched fairly well this year. He’s only been at about 80 pitches, so he’s not totally stretched out either. But he’s further along than Hughes and Aceves, so the Yanks could opt to add him to the 40-man roster (placing Xavier Nady on the 60-day DL) and give him the spot start.
Here’s the wild card in this: How long will the Yanks keep Wang on the DL? He might be ready to return in a month, but the Yanks will want to play this one cautiously. They have an opportunity to make sure everything is back to normal before returning him to the majors, a process they seemingly botched earlier in the year. If the plan is to take their time with Wang, Hughes should be the guy. He’s the sixth starter, and if someone goes out for a prolonged period, he’s the guy.
What the Yanks could do, and I’d prefer this, is to recall Mitre tomorrow as a bullpen arm. Start Hughes on Thursday, knowing he can’t go long; Aceves and Mitre will be around for backup. Then option Hughes the next day so he can get a start in the minors. It would probably have to be Trenton, since Scranton’s All-Star game is the same week as the MLB one. That would probably put him at 80-90 pitches for the start on the 21st against the Orioles.
As they did with Joba, many Yankees fans are falling in love with Hughes in the bullpen. It’s hard not to. He’s been lights out since making the transition. But if the team doesn’t have good starters, a good bullpen is kind of moot. Why would they put an inferior pitcher in the rotation? Oftentimes, when there’s a poor starter on the mound, the bullpen doesn’t have a lead to protect.
In the end, I believe the Yankees will opt to keep Hughes in the bullpen and start an inferior pitcher in Wang’s place. They’ll have their own justification for it, and I hope it works out. It very well could. From a strategic standpoint, though, it’s not the most sound decision. But if Mitre or Aceves comes through, they’ll look like geniuses.
Phillies made an offer for Wang
Posted by: | CommentsVia some schmuck at MLBTR, the Phillies offered the Yanks an unknown prospect for Chien-Ming Wang, but apparently the prospect was not to their liking. After sticking with Wang through all his early season struggles, you can bet the Yanks weren’t going to just give him up for a prospect. If they’re going to move him, they’re going to want a significant piece in return.
Rumor of the day: Who watches the Wanger?
Posted by: | CommentsWhen the Yankees nailed down Chien-Ming Wang’s first win of 2009, the team breathed a collective sigh of relief. The psychological benefits alone for a pitcher who, two months ago, was 0-3 with a 34.50 ERA in six innings, are immense, and the Yankees need their cost-controlled sinker ball specialist, once among the game’s best pitchers to rediscover his form.
Since returning from the disabled list in late May, Wang has looked better than he did in April. Over eight games, five starts, he has thrown 30.2 innings and is 1-3 with a 5.28 ERA. As we’re used to seeing Wang twirling over six innings a start to the tune of a sub-4.00 ERA, that’s still not quite up to par for the Taiwanese hurler, but instead of looking epically bad, it resembles a rough patch. We generally wouldn’t worry about a rough patch.
When push comes to shove this season, Wang’s final numbers won’t look pretty. His ERA stands at 10.06 through the first three months of the season. If Wang makes his final 17 starts and averages six innings per start, he will have to pitch to an ERA of 2.38 just to get his season mark to 4.50. I don’t think anyone expects that.
Yet, despite these inflated numbers, Wang is still attracting interest from other teams. Today’s rumor du jour comes to us via the Daily Dish. Per the rumors site, Jim Salisbury of The Philadelphia Inquirer noted yesterday that the Phillies have been scouting Wang. The pitching-starved defending World Champs need some arms, and as Salisbury reasons, the Yanks, with Phil Hughes waiting in the wings, could opt to trade Wang.
While it’s awfully flattering of the Phillies to look, chances are close to nil that the Yanks would trade Wang this year. First, while the Yankees have long been reluctant to give Wang a long-term deal, his value is at an all-time low. He is coming off of a bad foot injury and a three-month winless bout of ineffectiveness. His sinker isn’t quite doing what it needs to be doing, and he’s still getting his legs under him. The Yanks could probably land something decent for Wang, but nothing the Phillies would be willing right now to offer could replace Wang’s potential.
Furthermore, Wang is still a big part of the Yanks’ plans. By most accounts, this will be Andy Pettitte’s last year in pinstripes. The Yanks have the younger pieces waiting in the wings to supplant Pettitte, and to do that, they will rely on Wang to anchor the middle of the rotation. Right now, the Yanks view the 2010 rotation as featuring CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Wang, Joba Chamberlain and Hughes. They won’t give up on Wang, cost-controlled through the end of 2011 and with a good track record, so easily.
Of course, in the end, everyone has a price. If the Phillies make the right offer, they could probably land Wang. But I wouldn’t read much into this. Ruben Amaro, the Philadelphia GM, is simply doing his due diligence on a potential acquisition, but the Yanks won’t give up on this one so easily.
