Wang said his back "leg came up and I was getting to the front (foot) too quick." Pitches he was trying to keep down in the strike zone were coming in belt high and hittable as a result. "He can't push off," said organizational pitching guru Billy Connors. "That's where you get your push and your torque. His pitches were up in the zone."
When the Yankees placed Wang on the 15-day disabled list, they had his injury as weakness in the adductor muscles in the hips. He is working to strengthen them, but both he and Connors clearly think the right foot has been the culprit.
Among other exercises, Wang has been running barefoot in the outfield at the club's minor league complex to increase flexibility in the foot. He works out in a pool with Alex Rodriguez to improve hip strength. The results were evident Saturday as he threw four no-hit innings with two walks and three strikeouts in an extended spring training game. He threw 52 pitches, 33 for strikes, and maxed out at 93 on the radar gun.
"It's a lot better," said Wang, who will throw a bullpen session tomorrow and pitch another extended spring game Thursday. "I can stay back longer and throw the ball lower."Rubin said that Wang will most likely make two more starts in Tampa before making a start in for one of the minor league affiliates and/or returning to the Yankees.Connors said he also has been working to rebuild confidence lost during the three poor starts. He said, "You have to work the head, too."
A start Thursday, then he'll have four days rest and will likely make he next start on Tuesday the 12th. I would then be shocked if the Yankees didn't have him make at least one start in the minors. So based on that, I'd assume we're looking at sometime at the end of May or the beginning of June for Wang to return to the big leagues, and that's if everything goes well.
9 Comments:
I have a hard time believing this has anything to do with his foot since the release-point/groundball rate drop/command loss started appearing last year before his injury. If they can fix that all here in one go that's cool with me, though.
I had been sayin this after his last start, his footing just wasn't right. Hopefully they have finally figured out how to fix this and get him back later this month cause even though we're in May if Wang does get it together he could help earn 13-15 wins after that horrendous start.
Put Phil Hughes in the bullpen when Wang gets back. Hughes was dominate from the bullpen coming in for Clemens.
I'm glad he sees this now after he said there is nothing wrong with him. At least he is going to get back to normal. I'm in no rush for him to get back as long as Phil keeps pitching like he did against Detroit.
Phil Hughes needs innings and needs to start consistently. If he ends up in the bullpen, and another arm goes down, you can't just put him in and expect him to give you 100 pitches. It would be a Joba situation like last year all over again. He would need to be stretched out. Now in the playoffs, that's a different story. But to stunt his growth as a future ace just to fix a leaky bullpen is negligent.
Why didn't the Dave Eiland notice this? I could tell that there was something wrong with his mechanics just watching on TV. One would think that the coaching staff of the team with the highest payroll in the sport should be able to notice these things. If Girardi and his staff still have jobs at the All-Star break, I will be amazed. If George was still in charge, they would have been gone already.
"If Girardi and his staff still have jobs at the All-Star break, I will be amazed."
I tend to agree.
Mike
That's a good question, Scott. The coaches should be on top of these things, especially with all the video that's available to these guys.
It’s been three months since Wang reported to Tampa at the beginning of february.
Now the Yankees finally discovered that he’s not fully recovered yet?
Bravo.
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