Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Time for a Rookie to Step Up
Matt DeSalvo has an “aw shucks” aura about him, and as he walked, beleaguered, back to the dugout after being lifted in the 2nd inning last night, nearly every person in the dugout gave the kid a pat on the back.
Getting angry about, at, or because of Matt DeSalvo is a waste of energy. It would be like someone getting mad at me for not being able to run faster, or lift the back end of a car by myself. When it comes to physical ability, what you got is what you got. And when it comes to DeSalvo, he’s one of the most physically unimpressive pitchers I’ve seen in a long time. The football equivalent of having Brooks Bollinger as your quarterback.
With all that being said, and with that kernel of logical understanding for the kid’s ability, I hope we don’t have to see Matt DeSalvo on a major league mound again anytime soon. In fact, I implore the Yankees not to bring this kid up again unless: 1. He adds about 5 mph to his fastball, or 2. Grows another 4 or 5 inches. Whichever comes first.
All things being considered, I don’t believe the residue of Sunday night’s dramatic win was wiped away by a lethargic contest against the White Sox last night. However, I am putting a major emphasis on the game tonight. A game in which another rookie pitcher takes the mound for New York. In this case though, I have higher expectations for both pitcher and team tonight.
Tyler Clippard, though no Atlas himself when it comes to physical presence (“gangly” was the most common adjective ascribed to him by the scribes after his debut against the Mets), has something even more important: the ability to make people swing and miss. Although he’s not blazing new trails to this point when it comes to strikeouts (a pedestrian 6.00/9 IP in 15 innings), his K-rates through the minors are exceptional.
In 2005, he posted a 10.6 K/9 pitching primarily for Class A Tampa, and last year he led the Eastern League in strikeouts whiffing 175 batters in 166.1 innings of work at Trenton (AA). He started this year maintaining a high strikeout rate in Scranton (9.3) before being called up in late May.
What’s odd about the strikeout numbers is that Clippard doesn’t have a great fastball. It usually comes in right around 90 mph, and doesn’t appear to have much “wow” factor to it. Not much “pop,” not a little tail on the end, a la Greg Maddux. However, as exhibited against the Mets, he appears to have the ability to spot it on the corners with regularity. Coupled with a funky curveball, and what has been dubbed the “best change-up in the Yankees system,” he appears to have enough tools to be a solid major league pitcher.
The other thing my first impression has told me is that when it comes to that intangible called “make-up,” Clippard has it. After he delivers a pitch he often falls away to the left side of the mound, leaving him a good 10 feet or so away from the rubber by the time he’s done with his delivery. He then has to take a mini-stroll back to the hill, licking his hand or tugging at his cap in the process. He did this constantly against the Mets, walking very purposefully, very energetically back to his perch, as if he knew exactly what he wanted to do on the next pitch. That has been one of the more impressive things about Clippard so far; as I text messaged a buddy of mine in his 2nd start, “Results are results, but as a pitcher, he knows what he’s doing out there.” For a young pitcher, that’s a huge part of the equation.
After the Mets game he was flat against the Angels and gone by the 4th inning; last week against the Blue Jays he gutted out five innings and a win, but more often than not looked overmatched in a good hitter’s park. Tonight he gets the easiest line-up he has faced so far, in what I would imagine (haven’t looked at the stats this year) is one of the more neutral parks in baseball. It’s time for a rookie, in a season that has featured too many of them, to stand up for the Yankees and do the job as they continue to piece together a tattered and ragged rotation and keep hope alive. It’s time for Clippard to be that player tonight, and establish that he will be the 5th starter once Clemens returns.
Because another loss tonight equals another night for Yankee fans to bemoan their ill-fated pitching staff, and to question this team’s mettle. And it will indeed erase all of the good feelings from Sunday night and set the Yankees back to really where they’ve been all year: floundering and barely keeping their post-season hopes alive.
Matt DeSalvo has an “aw shucks” aura about him, and as he walked, beleaguered, back to the dugout after being lifted in the 2nd inning last night, nearly every person in the dugout gave the kid a pat on the back.
Getting angry about, at, or because of Matt DeSalvo is a waste of energy. It would be like someone getting mad at me for not being able to run faster, or lift the back end of a car by myself. When it comes to physical ability, what you got is what you got. And when it comes to DeSalvo, he’s one of the most physically unimpressive pitchers I’ve seen in a long time. The football equivalent of having Brooks Bollinger as your quarterback.
With all that being said, and with that kernel of logical understanding for the kid’s ability, I hope we don’t have to see Matt DeSalvo on a major league mound again anytime soon. In fact, I implore the Yankees not to bring this kid up again unless: 1. He adds about 5 mph to his fastball, or 2. Grows another 4 or 5 inches. Whichever comes first.
All things being considered, I don’t believe the residue of Sunday night’s dramatic win was wiped away by a lethargic contest against the White Sox last night. However, I am putting a major emphasis on the game tonight. A game in which another rookie pitcher takes the mound for New York. In this case though, I have higher expectations for both pitcher and team tonight.
Tyler Clippard, though no Atlas himself when it comes to physical presence (“gangly” was the most common adjective ascribed to him by the scribes after his debut against the Mets), has something even more important: the ability to make people swing and miss. Although he’s not blazing new trails to this point when it comes to strikeouts (a pedestrian 6.00/9 IP in 15 innings), his K-rates through the minors are exceptional.
In 2005, he posted a 10.6 K/9 pitching primarily for Class A Tampa, and last year he led the Eastern League in strikeouts whiffing 175 batters in 166.1 innings of work at Trenton (AA). He started this year maintaining a high strikeout rate in Scranton (9.3) before being called up in late May.
What’s odd about the strikeout numbers is that Clippard doesn’t have a great fastball. It usually comes in right around 90 mph, and doesn’t appear to have much “wow” factor to it. Not much “pop,” not a little tail on the end, a la Greg Maddux. However, as exhibited against the Mets, he appears to have the ability to spot it on the corners with regularity. Coupled with a funky curveball, and what has been dubbed the “best change-up in the Yankees system,” he appears to have enough tools to be a solid major league pitcher.
The other thing my first impression has told me is that when it comes to that intangible called “make-up,” Clippard has it. After he delivers a pitch he often falls away to the left side of the mound, leaving him a good 10 feet or so away from the rubber by the time he’s done with his delivery. He then has to take a mini-stroll back to the hill, licking his hand or tugging at his cap in the process. He did this constantly against the Mets, walking very purposefully, very energetically back to his perch, as if he knew exactly what he wanted to do on the next pitch. That has been one of the more impressive things about Clippard so far; as I text messaged a buddy of mine in his 2nd start, “Results are results, but as a pitcher, he knows what he’s doing out there.” For a young pitcher, that’s a huge part of the equation.
After the Mets game he was flat against the Angels and gone by the 4th inning; last week against the Blue Jays he gutted out five innings and a win, but more often than not looked overmatched in a good hitter’s park. Tonight he gets the easiest line-up he has faced so far, in what I would imagine (haven’t looked at the stats this year) is one of the more neutral parks in baseball. It’s time for a rookie, in a season that has featured too many of them, to stand up for the Yankees and do the job as they continue to piece together a tattered and ragged rotation and keep hope alive. It’s time for Clippard to be that player tonight, and establish that he will be the 5th starter once Clemens returns.
Because another loss tonight equals another night for Yankee fans to bemoan their ill-fated pitching staff, and to question this team’s mettle. And it will indeed erase all of the good feelings from Sunday night and set the Yankees back to really where they’ve been all year: floundering and barely keeping their post-season hopes alive.
