So Much Pressure on Yanks' Kids
Hughes, Kennedy & Joba Must Develop at Their Own Pace
Putting Hughes and Kennedy into the Yankees' starting rotation is bad baseball. It is unfair to Hughes, Kennedy, the Yankees, and the fans.
Twenty- three year old Philip Hughes has pitched 275 innings in the minors. Twenty-three year old Ian Kennedy has pitched 149 innings in the minors. Twenty-two year old Joba Chamberlain has pitched 88 innings in the minors. Young pitchers learn to pitch in the minor leagues. Young pitchers who are rushed to the majors usually struggle and take longer to reach their potential. Putting Hughes and Kennedy into the Yankees' starting rotation is bad baseball. It is unfair to Hughes, Kennedy, the Yankees, and the fans. If Chamberlain had not been dominant as a relief pitcher at the end of last season, he would be in the starting rotation as well.
A Pitcher Must Be Allowed to Develop Under the Best Conditions Possible
No matter how great the "experts" think a pitcher is going to be, he must be allowed to develop under optimum conditions. Pitching for the Yankees with the expectation that they will lead the team to a championship or close to a championship in the most pressure packed city in baseball is not the best way for a young pitcher to mature.
Nineteen Year Old Dwight Gooden Succeeded
Some young pitchers succeed under such conditions. Nineteen-year old Dwight Gooden pitched only 270 minor league innings before he joined the Mets in 1984, but at Class A Lynchburg in 1983, Gooden pitched a full season for one team, which none of the Yankees' three has done. Gooden started 27 games, competed 10, won 19, hurled 191 innings, and had an incredible 300 strikeouts. Gooden's success prompted the Yankees to rush eighteen-year old Jose Rijo to the majors. Jose had been the Florida State MVP and was 15-5, but his greatest success didn't occur until he helped lead the Reds to the 1990 World Championship.
Pettitte Spent Almost Five Season in the Minors
Carsten Charles (C.C.) Sabathia had pitched only 233 minor league innings when he joined the Indians as a twenty-year old and won 17 games. Bob Feller, Vida Blue, and Bret Saberhagen were solid pitchers before they were twenty two, but they are the exception. Andy Pettitte, one of the few solid pitchers the Yankees have developed, spent almost five seasons in the minors.
Many Pitchers Couldn't Take the Pressure
The game has changed greatly over the last decade, and teams "protect" young pitchers by limiting their work in the minors. Fine. Let us assume that works. Hughes, Kennedy, and Chamberlain face the pressure of pitching in New York. The Yankees' brass has admitted that not everyone can adapt to New York. Veteran pitchers who were winners in other cities became Yankees and became losers. Dale Murray, Ed Whitson, Steve Trout, Rich Dotson, Andy Hawkins, Tim Leary, Terry Mulholland, Kenny Rogers, Denny Neagle, Jeff Weaver, Javier Vazquez, Kevin Brown, Jose Contraras, Esteban Loaiza, Jared Wright, Carl Pavano, Kyle Farnsworth, abd Kei Igawa all were successful pitchers elsewhere and were, to be kind, ineffective in New York.
No Team Has Won the World Series With Three Rookie Pitchers
No team has ever won the World Championship with three rookie starting pitchers (Hughes is technically not a rookie).According to the Elias Sports Bureau, there has never been a World Series team with two rookies making a minimum of just 25 starts apiece, let alone 30-34! When that number is scaled back to 20, only four teams have reached the World Series. The Yankees should allow their three potentially outstanding pitchers develop at their own pace with the pressures faced by pitchers in the minors. They may damage one or more of the three with the result that they are sent away and become effective pitchers with another team.
References:
Winning With Three Rookie Starters
