______
A-Rod came back sooner
Posada came back at the expected time

—————

And the one thing they both have in common is neither are pitchers.

That’s a much more delicate issue and we already know A-Rod returned to the lineup before his doctor wanted.

That’s why A-Rod was supposed to stick to the Philipon Rules but Girardi didn’t.

And how do you know this?
The fact is you don’t!
So the only thing you can do is wait and see.

—————–

When was the last time a Yankee player only missed the expected time off after going down with an injury?

Bruney took much, much longer than expected. Marte is still out. Molina missed significantly more time than expected.

I could go on and on.

The team obviously isn’t going to rush him back. He wasn’t in top physical condition even before this shoulder issue.

I don’t expect Wang back in a month. I can’t prove he won’t be back but recent history is not on his side.
______
A-Rod came back sooner
Posada came back at the expected time

While I would certainly want Hughes pitching in September/post-season over the other names, can Phil ramp up to a reliable 4 or 5 starter before the end of August? In the meantime, you lose your newly found lockdown 8th inning guy. And there is a real danger of losing significant ground in the standings by losing games where three starters (Hughes, Joba and Pettitte) all need lots of bullpen help.

Also, is the risk of conversion stress to Hughes’ arm worth what he’s likely to give as a re-made starter? Factor in the possibility of losing ground in the meantime and, respectfully, I don’t think so. I think you leave Hughes where he is and fill in another starter. IMO, Cash’s real job is to find an innings eater somewhere. I don’t think they need a dominator.

IMO, if you look at it this way, the pressure is really on AJ now. He has to be the reliable, dominating “two” in a one-two punch with CC. Is he up to it?

Playoffs? The regular season doesn’t end until Oct 4 this year.

The yankees have a very tough end of the year schedule.

In september they play 6 games with Toronto, 3 with the Sox, 4 games with the Angels. They also have a 6 game west coast swing to Seattle and LA. They play 3 games with Tampa Bay in Sept and then close the season with 3 games at tamps bay.

That is a brutal stretch run schedule. And they are going to need outstanding starting pitching if they are going to do well to end the season.

They aren’t going to be able to toy with the rotation. If Mitre is in the rotation he is going to pitch big games down the stretch. There is no question about it. None.
_______

And again you have no idea how much time Wang is going to be on the DL. So over reacting now is completely useless. Why not wait and see I think we can handle 3-4 starts from a serviceable 5th stater. Maybe Wang misses 3-4 starts maybe 8-10. I don’t know, you don’t know so stop overacting. Don’t worry the Sox, and the Rays wont go 81-0.

And how do you know this?
The fact is you don’t!
So the only thing you can do is wait and see.

—————–

When was the last time a Yankee player only missed the expected time off after going down with an injury?

Bruney took much, much longer than expected. Marte is still out. Molina missed significantly more time than expected.

I could go on and on.

The team obviously isn’t going to rush him back. He wasn’t in top physical condition even before this shoulder issue.

I don’t expect Wang back in a month. I can’t prove he won’t be back but recent history is not on his side.

But the fact is – they have to be stretched out and that process will take weeks.

So the team doesn’t have the luxury of a wait and see attitude.

You can take either side of the argument. It’s a difficult issue.

But there is no way to say that they can just wait and see how much time Wang will miss unless they are happy giving the ball to Mitre, etc. because Hughes and Wang need to be stretched out.

No one is going to have perfect or definitive information is this situation. It’s how you chose to handle uncertainty and where you want to allocate risk.

That’s the trade off.

Many of us think that Wang will be out significantly longer than a month. This issue is a no-brainer if Wang is out for just a month. But not so much if he’s out for two months or longer.

At this point, there’s no guarantee Wang will be back at all. We’ve seen many injuries downplayed by this organization that turn out to be much much longer than they anticipated.

Hughes happened to be one of them last year.
________

And how do you know this?
The fact is you don’t!
So the only thing you can do is wait and see.

Playoffs? The regular season doesn’t end until Oct 4 this year.

The yankees have a very tough end of the year schedule.

In september they play 6 games with Toronto, 3 with the Sox, 4 games with the Angels. They also have a 6 game west coast swing to Seattle and LA. They play 3 games with Tampa Bay in Sept and then close the season with 3 games at tamps bay.

That is a brutal stretch run schedule. And they are going to need outstanding starting pitching if they are going to do well to end the season.

They aren’t going to be able to toy with the rotation. If Mitre is in the rotation he is going to pitch big games down the stretch. There is no question about it. None.