Bad Outing for Kei Igawa

Following up on my earlier post, I took notice of this ominous quote in today's New York Newsday, by Yankees kantoku Joe Torre: "[Igawa] had no command," Torre said. "He was missing his spots by a long way. You're certainly not going to have success when you don't throw enough strikes and you don't spot the ball."

This is tough talk from the usually tight-lipped Torre, who rarely criticizes his players in the press. I would read it to mean that Igawa has one or at most two more chances to prove himself in the shaky NY rotation. With Chien-Ming Wang coming back this evening and minor league prospect Phil Hughes waiting in the wings, Kei-san may find himself on the bus to Columbus (the minors), hefty contract or no.

- With the Yankees' pitching struggling so, even in the early part of the season, Torre-kantoku will keep a short leash. Let's hope our Bronx-relocated Tiger finds his form soon.

Yeah, Igawa needs to find his form quick because rookie phenom Phil Hughes is getting called up Thursday by the Yankees, and if he pitches well he could take either Igawa's or Pavano's spot in the rotation in a hurry.

That aside, the Yankees have barely had any quality starts this year, and only Pettitte is pitching real well. They're missing Wang, Mussina, and Pavano. The rotation is a mess, so Igawa isn't the only one, but at the investment the Yankees paid for Igawa he better find it out soon or, like I said, Hughes will take his rotation spot in a real hurry.

Yep, he didn't look good. One more outing like that and it will be difficult to keep him in the rotation. The worst thing was all those walks - some pitches weren't even close.

He didn't look good at all (as noted earlier, what Yankee starter has?). I think he has the ability to turn it around, but I wouldn't rule out a quick stop at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (they changed from Columbus in the off season) to get a little AAA time.

A pitcher's confidence is a tricky thing - so some minor league ball may help if he can't sort it out in his next start or two. I still have high hopes for him (as a Yankee fan).

Well, it looks as if they're going to give him a chance to work things out in the bullpen according to this article at mlb.com.