Comments on: Girardi: Kennedy has to earn his way back

By: BillP

BillP — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:19:52 +0000

All 3 of them (IPK, Hughes, and Joba) need to learn what it means to be a pitcher. I can’t take the constant nibbling all three of them do. Hughes and Chamberlain have stuff that’s too good to be throwing 80-90 pitches through 3 or 4 innings. IPK, while he doesn’t have the stuff of the other two, showed great command of 4 good pitches. None of the 3 are as aggressive as they need to be and none of the 3 will be big winners until they learn to be and stop giving batters (the dumbest creatures on earth) so much respect.

By: kurtK

kurtK — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:35:09 +0000

Ian K. is a beach boy who went to USC. What did you expect? No mental toughness to pitch in NYC. Girardi is a tough guy who understands what it takes.

By: jon

jon — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:14:20 +0000

Steve…I hope you aren’t even close to being serious.

By: Streve

Streve — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:27:32 +0000

Doesn’t matter. Girardi will be kicked out after this season, after Yankees saying good-bye to the playoff.
This season is definitely disappointing for Yankees fans.

By: Patrick Bateman

Patrick Bateman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:56:11 +0000

I hope this is a sign that they are going to move Kennedy. With Gardner being promoted maybe thats a sign that a Melky/Kennedy package might be the start of a package for a starter.

By: farnsworthy

farnsworthy — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:53:28 +0000

hughes will be our #4 and pavano is #5 … stop making fun of pavano. he is a lot better than kennedy, who has cried in the locker room.

By: Jorge Steinbrenner (Obama/Brett Gardner in the White House in '08)

Jorge Steinbrenner (Obama/Brett Gardner in the White House in '08) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:58:59 +0000

I’m a big IPK fan as well. He needs his time in AAA, as does Phil, though. They were plain and simply rushed after showing signs of legit major league potential last year.

Really, though, whoever said young pitchers usually don’t develop like Joba is correct. Not being Joba shouldn’t held against anyone.

Patience and time. Patience and time. It’s not Phil Hughes’ and Ian Kennedy’s fault we do not have a 4th or 5th starter. We’ve been in that hole since we threw a ton of money at Jaret Wright and Carl Pavano. Why not start putting the blame there a bit more?

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:45:55 +0000

I can’t say this surprises me, I got the impression during his starts in April that Girardi doesn’t love Kennedy. He seemed to have a pretty quick hook with him and his post game comments directed at him were usually pretty terse. I never heard him have a similar tone or comments directed at Hughes (who was every bit as bad) so I think the message was pretty clear.

It’s a shame, I’m a big Kennedy fan. You don’t find many guys with good command of 4 pitches every day. I don’t think he has anything left to learn or prove in the minors, and what he needs to learn can only happen on the MLB level. But at the same time I understand the priority at the big league level is to win games, not develop pitchers.

By: Chester

Chester — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:35:19 +0000

I saw IPK in Palm Beach on Saturday, and he didn’t impress me at all. His stat line was fine, two hits, no earned runs… but he didn’t throw very many first pitch strikes, had a bunch of throws in the dirt, and had one walk on four pitches.

I sat right above the dugout and the kid looked pissed off the whole time until they yanked him after the sixth, when he finally cracked a smile. I know I should be less inclined to trust my own observations than his objective performance, but I didn’t like what I saw.

By: jon

jon — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:18:41 +0000

I happen to think that Girardi’s approach is spot-on, frankly. He is encountering a kid (IPK) who believed it was his “right” to be in the rotation, rather than a privilege. I am still high on his ability to be solid….but unfortunately, I do believe he showed his true colors earlier when he stated he didnt want to deal with the pressure of NYC. I think there is some credence to the Yankees trying to bring IPK back down to size…that being a Yankee requires hard work, not just talent.