Mussina, too often now, looks like a once special pitcher with his weapons removed. Once among the top strikeout pitchers in the game, Mussina has nearly as many homers allowed (five) as whiffs (seven) through four 2008 starts. He struck out just one last night, same as in his previous outing against the Red Sox. He lasted just three innings this time in a 7-5 Boston victory - long enough for Ramirez to homer off him two more times.
His stuff is just not playing, not for the AL in 2008. He actually threw a little harder last night than he had been, throwing one fastball at 89 mph to Ramirez. Mainly, however, he remains at around 85 mph without nearly the bite or deception on his secondary pitches.
It becomes harder and harder to envision him going through a lineup three times, pitching even six innings with any consistency. He is going to use up a lot of bullpen even on his best days and, on his worst days, he is going to be a punching bag, a sad memory of a pitcher who once unfurled so many ways to retire hitters.
He is unplayable now against the Red Sox. How soon before that is the reality against every opponent?
I'm going to side with Al Leiter on this and say I still think Moose can get people out. Remember, he pitched six innings of two-hit baseball against Tampa Bay on the April 7th, and had the game been managed properly he would have pitched a good game in Fenway last weekend and probably would have picked up the win.
His next three starts are scheduled to be against the White Sox, Indians and Mariners, with the Sox and Indians sitting at the bottom of the AL in batting average. These three games will be a huge test for Moose, if he can be effective in at least two of the starts, there will be little reason to take him out of the rotation, but if he struggles like he did yesterday the Yankees will seriously have to consider replacing him in the rotation.
But that leads to another problem; right now the Yankees only options to replace Moose in the rotation are Kei Igawa and Darrel Rasner, both of which I don't see as much of an improvement. There's also always the possibility that this could open the door for the Yanks to move Joba into the rotation, but that's a whole other discussion that I don't want to get into right now.
8 Comments:
Guys like Moyer and Maddux prove that you can get outs with a mid-80's and below fastball. So it may not be the stuff that is an issue as much as being able to adjust pitching style. Not many guys successfully go from being a power or quasi-power pitcher to a finesse guy. Who was the guy that Jim Kaat would always reference in regards to making that transition? Regardless, we're only talking about a handful of guys EVER that were able to adjust and be successful with a totally different style.
I agree, I definitely think Mussina's stubbornness is hurting him, and he needs to adjust his pitching style.
I'm not sure about who Kaat used to mention, but I remember him talking about it.
Mussina didn't win 250 games by accident, so he may be able to be one of the few that could adjust, but so far it looks like he's mentally having trouble with it.
Mike Mussina has been a great pitcher in his career. Good as a Yankee. Now it is the time to make a change. Trade him for whatever the market bears. Then go with the kids sounds good but with Hughes and Kennedy struggling it seemed good to have Mussina around. I am of the opinion that someone in the system could come up and develop into a fruitful major league arm. There is no chance of Mussina returning next year. Bite the bullet on this one Cash and dig down deep if you have to. You are wasting tome waiting for Mussina to develop into a Maddux or Moyer. Time yo develop one of the young guns.
Anonymous,
I'm just confused a bit by what you're saying are you saying you think it's good to have him around for the young pitchers, but that they should trade him anyway? I'm also curious about which pitcher would you bring up to replace him?
I think Mussina can still give you a decent start against mediocre hitting...
...but I just don't see how with his stuff, or lack thereof, he's going to continue to be competitive against the likes of a Manny Ramirez...
And why is Moose not open to adjusting his style? Is he really stubborn or is it possible that he's just not capable of doing it?
If locating his pitches is the big issue, you would think that a guy with the control he used to exhibit would at least be able to accomplish that...didn't Moose always have impeccable control?
rookrat,
Not many people do well with Manny. If he can be a serviceable No. 5 pitcher that's really all the Yankees need.
It does seem that it's stubbornness that's keeping him fro making the proper adjustments.
Moose did always have great control, I have no idea what happened.
I disagree that Mussina is being stubborn. He has always really been a finesse pitcher, throwing 6 different pitches, but he doesn't seem to get a lot of movement on his pitches now. To me, this indicates a lack of arm strength or muscle snap.
He can still get people out with deception, but that usually won't get you through the lineup a second time. I can't agree that he is being stubborn by refusing to adjust, because I don't see what adjustment he is capable of making that would be effective. He looks like he is just out of gas.
I think he throws way too many fastballs. He also seems like he's afraid to come inside on hitters.
For example on that send at bat to Manny the other night he threw him 5 fastballs in a row, and appeared to shake off several breaking balls. That would be fine if he threw 98 MPH but he throws 85 MPH, and that just won't cut it. He must mix his pitches even more than he used to.
He also is missing his spots.
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