“We want 200 innings in all five of our guys,”I don't think I need to tell you how rare and unlikely that is. As Rob Bradley of Zell's Pinstripe Blog point out, it's only happened 16 times in the history of the game, the last time being the 1923 Yankees. Between injuries and the depth of bullpens today I wouldn't expect it to happen any time soon. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they could get 200 innings from each of their top four.
Here's some more from Eiland on his staff and the competition for the fifth starter spot:
“It’s going to be fun,” Eiland said after a pre-spring training workout Tuesday at the team’s minor league complex. “It will be a good competition. Competition brings out the best in guys. It’s going to be interesting to see who pulls ahead of the pack. Time will tell.”Yes, competition is good and usually brings out the best in people, but to go back to his first quote, there is no way the Yankees are going to have five 200 inning pitchers if Phil Hughes is their fifth starter. His innings limit makes that impossible.
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“It’s time to get the boys back together, get after this thing and do it again,” Eiland said. “The calendar has flipped over to 2010 and we’ve got to keep our focus straight ahead.”
