Wang is not injured (with Girardi audio)
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc, Podcast on Apr 13, 2009 
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Joe Girardi, Jorge Posada and Chien-Ming Wang all said the same thing just now: The right-hander is not injured.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that he stinks.
But without any days off coming up, Wang will be back out there on Saturday.
“He has a history of being a very good pitcher and I think history will repeat itself,” Joe Girardi said.
Wang seemed stunned. He said the issue was where he released the ball, which was off to the side instead of over the top. A sinkerball pitcher wants to stand tall on the mound and throw the ball on a downward plane. Otherwise the ball floats over the strike zone and you see what happens.
Here’s Joe Girardi:
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Try and remember, Wang was 46-15, 3.74 from 2006-08. There are only a handful of starters who have been better. He’s also coming off a ninth-long stretch when he didn’t pitch in a regular-season game.
Have a little faith that the guy didn’t suddenly lose his ability. This stuff happens sometimes.
Meanwhile, this notion that Wang doesn’t know how to get through a game without his good stuff or a good sinker is laughable. So he went 46-15 without knowing how to do that?
Going to the Saturday game – hope he is due for a good one!
pete can we get some swish video on the site i missed his pitching performance
I will be there Saturday hope he finds it by then otherwise I will be spending a lot of money in the New Stadium.
Wang 5 earned runs or more given up 6 of last 8 outings.
I don’t think Wang’s problem is anything to worry about long term. But it is a large issue when it does pop up. If he doesn’t have it in the 1st inning its obvious and goes downhill too quickly. Just like it did in the Indians playoff series.
I think Wang would benefit tremendously by working on some secondary pitches he can fall back on if the sinker isn’t working.
There is a legitimate issue here though that David Cone raised during the game:
When Wang doesnt have his good stuff he gets shelled because he’s unable to make the adjustment on the mound to grind through his start (this goes back to something Mike Mussina actually said about having days when you don’t have good stuff and grind through it so you don’t burn your BP and give your club a chance to win) – Cone pointed out and he’s correct that Wang when he doesn’t come out with his “A” game he gets shelled and shelled big time
In addition Wang seems to struggle keeping his head on his shoulders when he starts getting knocked around a bit. I don’t want to say he panics (because thats a bit strong) but it seems he just gets out of his “game face” so to speak and just begins to lose confidence in his abilities and then things go from bad to worse.
These two issues are far more concerning than any single blow out loss because it points to a trend of behavior that can resurface in future starts.
Wang will be fine probably just an early slump for him. Really hasn’t pitched other then ST, since June last year.
Stuff happens Pete, but Wang pitched 1 inning tonight. He obviously deserves another start and even another after that if healthy. But if this continues without any adjustments he’s gonna need some major changes.
Well we’ve got a legit 6th starter in Swisher.
I still can’t stop chuckling at the fact that Swisher is the only pitcher tonight that didn’t surrender a run. Friggin hilarious.
The guy does everything. What can he do for an encore tomorrow, cure cancer?
I assumed that he wasn’t hurt and it was just mechanical because Girardi wouldn’t send him out there if he was. But I think it is about time that he gets smarter as a pitcher. Sometimes it seems like he is a rookie out there that doesn’t know what to do and the pitching coach has to be like his daddy to help him. Aces know more about pitching then he does and the Yanks have to make it a priority to develop his secondary pitches better.
Swish has a guaranteed deal for next year… but imagine him going into arbitration knowing that he can pitch. lol
Pete, any reaction from Swish?
NYY isn’t going to do much of anything until Jeter stops hitting ground balls. 1-20, 5 strikeouts 14 ground ball outs, and only one to the right side. He’s not even hitting them hard enough to kill grass or make the grub worms run for cover. Perhaps somebody should take him to the outfield and introduce him to what it looks like, and let him know that it’s OK to use that part of the field, too.
Didn’t Eiland make an adjustment with CC to make him stand taller on the mound?
IN OTHER NEWS, AUSTIN JACKSON IS ON FIRE AT TRIPLE-A
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....pid=457706
Mel,
Do you think Swisher wasn’t standing tall enough on the mound?
can swisher play catcher in a pinch?
Wang has my support. He has accumulated far too much capital in good will for his success the last two years for me to want to discard him after two poor outings.
I’m going to forbear, cheer him on Saturday, and hope for the best for at least three more outings.
Then, I’m going to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and take a good long look at the East River….
And then I’m going to pray that some intrepid Yankee fan socks Josh Beckett in the face and breaks his jaw.
Maybe Swish can help Wang with some of the mechanical adjustments that he needs to make on the mound….
they always go on a tear after a beating like this.
One positive for me was Posada’s throwing. The baserunners were safe, but even with Wang’s slow delivery, the plays were close – strong, accurate throw.
‘IN OTHER NEWS, AUSTIN JACKSON IS ON FIRE AT TRIPLE-A’
We’ll see him in September.
vin,
Still waiting for the game to be archived. I’m only going to watch the bottom of the 8th. Apparently, that’s the only good inning we had.
So who gets sent down, and who gets called up?
All the relievers threw a TON of pitches. Albaladejo seemed obvious at the time, but maybe its Coke baed on yesterday’s performance too.
My guess is Albaladejo for either Robertson or Tomko.
It was pretty funny. He was literally biting his lip as he walked back to the dugout trying not to laugh… don’t think Jeter would have taken too kindly to it.
I’ve actually always been a fan of a position player pitching in a blowout (so long as they don’t try to really pitch and hurt themselves)… besides resting the bullpen, I have to think it eases the tension in the clubhouse.
Anyone see Posada’s post game interview with Kim Jones? He didn’t seem to delighted that Swisher was having fun pitching…
not sure that its bout wang forgetting how to pich…more bout how teams now force him to get the ball up and lay off his sinker…and when his sinker isnt sinking, it makes it all that more easier for the opposing team…let molina catch him and lets see what happens
Vin-
Robertson pitched 3 innings today and struck out 7, so it may not be him.
Good point, Michael… didn’t even think to see if he pitched today. Thanks.
andrew, yeah- posada acts all tough and thinks hes a big shot…since jeter became captain, that clubhouse has been a problem and they need to let swisher be himself and change it
Vin,
Robertson pitched 3 innings yesterday, so it probably won’t be him.
sorry michael, didnt see your post.
Oh please Posada is too up tight. Was the game embarrassing? Absolutely but it was 1 game. Your starting pitcher had nothing today, there is nothing you can do about it. When you take one for the team like Swish did, you can laugh about it. The Yanks need more loose players like Damon and Swish are.
No problem Vin, Tomko also pitched one inning for the save today.
I’m guessing Steven Jackson will be called up. Robertson just pitched and Melancon/Tomko would require a 40 man roster move.
To say hes hurt is far fetched but i dont see it being any better throwing him out there while hes clearly off, are we going to keep just giving games just so he can get his act together? i rather put him on a minor elague assignment and give ipk or hughes a chance while wang settles his mechanics
Watching Giambi truck it all the way from 1B to score made me feel a little bit better.
I’m only concerned about his severely decreased velo.
Just saw the Posada interview with Kim on the old DVR… yikes! Apparently, he’s the sheriff of that clubhouse.
Tomko and Claggett would be the clear options unless they want another left hander, in which case, they’d need to move two players onto the 40 man roster.
Two players, two quotes, two opinions-is Swisher pitching a laughing matter?
http://www.puristbleedspinstri.....nions.html
They say that sinkerballers usually have a tough time when they’re too “well rested”. For all intents an purposes, Wang has been “resting” since last June…Also, I saw Peter wrote that he had his 700,000th comment which is a testament to his readership. I live in Minnesota, but this blog is the first thing I read everyday, and the last thing I read at night. I started reading it towards the beginning of last year. Since that time, I’ve emailed Peter one question, an innocuous one at that…and he responded pretty quickly. Growing up here, I used to always email our local sportswriters questions, and the only one who ever responded was Patrick Reusse. So Peter, I appreciate it, and I’m sure all your readers do.
Nate,
The theory of too much rest usually refers to the sinkerballer being too strong and throwing too hard, thereby straightening out the sinker. What’s most troubling about Wang is that he was throwing 89-90 and his sinker (from what I saw) wasn’t even thinking about sinking.
I with swish. Posada was just mad he was playing first
I’m***
I’m so flattered.
I am going to the Saturday so if Wang suck….well Wang then I will flip.
I just got home so I don’t know if this was discussed earlier, but…is it possible that the presence of A-Rod put a hex on the team? I’m just asking.
Miracle Wang-der has lost his magic
I’m not as concerned about Wang as I am for what his failures are doing to the bullpen. He may burn out the bullpen before April is done. In my humble opinion they need to bring up a 13th pitcher for a few weeks if they are going to continue sending Wang out there every 5th day. It might be a good idea to put Matsui on the 15-day DL so they can bring up a long man.
Wang will rebound at next start v.s Indians …
He might be not pitch in the official game for a long time
Wnag Go go go …We all Taiwanese support you forever…
Wang will rebound at next start v.s Indians …
He might be not pitch in the official game for a long time
Wnag Go go go …We all Taiwanese support you forever…
Dizzy Dean wasn’t injured either after he came back from his broken toe. But he could never pitch again.
A foot injury for a pitcher can be a nightmare.
I agree with Pete that Wang will bounce back. He is struggling right now after a long layoff. I also agree with those that say he needs to learn to adjust during games when he doesn’t have his best stuff. There is just too much all or nothing with this guy. Always has been. He either is lights out or gets blasted. They need to teach him how to work through games when he doesn’t have his good sinker. I put that on Posada and Eiland. Time to teach him how to pitch when he doesn’t have the good sinker or games like this will continue to happen.
Maybe he’s not injured, but he certainly sucks:
http://jakerake.wordpress.com/.....es-week-1/
I’ll be at the game Saturday, Wang better pull it together!! I’ll be in the bleachers if anyone wants to say hi
Wang’s always flirted with disaster. Check that K:BB.