At this stage, Kei Igawa couldn’t be any worse.
Hiroki Kuroda was supposed to be the No. 2 starter for the Yankees. Unless he dramatically improves, maybe No. 2 for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Yankees, who fell to 6-6 after a 6-5 loss to the Twins last night at the Stadium, are nearing pitching panic with Phil Hughes taking the mound tonight in the finale against the Twins. Then comes the tough part of the schedule.
When the Twins leave town, it is on to Boston and a showdown with Bobby Valentine’s troubled Red Sox, a trip to Texas, the real American League powerhouse, and a home series against the Tigers, the team that knocked the Yankees out of the playoffs last October.
In some ways April is the new August with the new playoff format, where you want to win your division to avoid the pitfalls of a one-and-done wild card matchup. So much is at stake, and it’s time the Yankees rotation rises to the challenge.
Kuroda was dreadful from the start, giving up four runs in the first and never recovering as the Twins zoomed to a victory. Though Kuroda pitched eight scoreless innings in a win over the Angels in his previous start, he still has allowed 12 runs over three starts, six runs coming in the first inning.
Manager Joe Girardi said Kuroda’s sinker was up, but it was worse than that.
“I didn’t have my other pitches, too,’’ Kuroda said.
Girardi was asked what he knew about Kuroda before the Yankees gave the free agent $10 million.
“The only thing I knew about him was from seeing the one game he started against us [in 2010] and just watching film,’’ Girardi said.
Girardi is learning more every outing about Kuroda, and it has not been pretty.
The ex-Dodger, like so many National League pitchers, is having a difficult time adjusting to the American League. As Kuroda noted, because of the designated hitter, there is potential for a big inning every inning. The key to success in the AL, Kuroda said, is to minimize damage, but that is a defensive mindset.
The key is not to allow early damage. After his six-run, 10-hit, 4 1/3 outing, Kuroda’s ERA jumped to 5.00. He could not minimize the damage in the first and Twins DH Justin Morneau destroyed Kuroda with two home runs, a two-run blast in the first and a solo shot in the fifth. At that point Girardi had left-handed reliever Clay Rapada ready to go, but elected to stay with Kuroda, perhaps trying to learn a little more about the right-hander.
That turned out to be a bad decision as Morneau deposited Kuroda’s pitch deep into the right field seats to put the Twins on top, 6-4. The two home runs gave Morneau seven at the new Yankee Stadium. He has five home runs at home at Target Field.
Coming to a new league is never easy, and Kuroda is discovering the harsh realities of AL ball, where mistakes are deposited into outfield seats. He mentioned how good a hitter Morneau is and how he can make adjustments.
Kuroda is 1-2 after three starts. For his career, he is 42-48. A closer look reveals he is a combined 19-5 against the Astros, Brewers, Pirates and Padres. That makes him 23-43 against everyone else, and the Yankees only can hope he doesn’t turn into another Igawa.
During Igawa’s terrible tenure with the Yankees, he was 2-4 with a 6.66 ERA and was banished to the minors.
Kuroda is considered a much harder worker than Igawa and will do everything in his power to try to recover. His next chance will come Monday in Texas against the hard-hitting Rangers, who beat up on the Red Sox 6-3 again last night.
Kuroda came into the season 3-8 in interleague play, 0-1 against the Rangers, having allowed eight hits and five runs over 5 1-3 innings in his lone start. That’s the same amount of innings Girardi saw Kuroda pitch against the Yankees, a game Kuroda won, though he surrendered four runs on seven hits.
Overall, Kuroda has a small AL sample size with a 4-10 record, but so far, it is Igawa ugly. He needs to pitch down in the zone and take control early.
Hiroki, this is not the NL West anymore.