THE Yankees could no longer afford to take their good ‘ol time bringing up their top pitching prospects. It was the advice of Joba Chamberlain to Ian Kennedy before his first major league start yesterday that helped to not compound Kennedy’s anxiety by being in a rush.
“The game is a little faster here, you can let it get ahead of you,” said Chamberlain. “You have to understand the game doesn’t go until you make it go.”
During a 36-pitch second inning, hardly moved along by a dropped foul pop-up by Alex Rodriguez (ha!) and by a 21-pitch third interrupted on a 2-2 count by his manager challenging Akinori Iwamura’s bat, Kennedy took even longer between pitches than it’s taking Brian Cashman to get rid of Kyle Farnsworth.
“Watching guys like Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, you kind of learn to slow the game down,” said the kid.
By the time he got Delmon Young to bounce into a double play to get out of the third tied 2-2, Chamberlain had turned age 34, Roger Clemens was a pile of dust in the Yankees dugout, Joe Torre had finally run out of Bob Gibson stories and Mike Mussina had plenty more of the quality time his manager insists the bewildered, exiled veteran needs to get his act together.
“To me, the biggest thing that’s going to help him is skipping this start,” Torre said yesterday morning. “That gives him a little time away to evaluate and breathe a little.”
Kennedy bought a pitcher with an ERA of 17.50 in his last three games some soul-searching time the Yankees can only pray proves irrelevant. With the help of some serious first-ball swinging by the young Devil Rays, Kennedy, who had surrendered a Josh Wilson two-run double and a B.J. Upton solo homer, completed the seventh in 96 pitches and the Yankees, 9-6 winners, put two games game of air between themselves and skidding Seattle.
Perhaps they will be in clover by the time the Mariners leave here Wednesday night, but with Detroit still lurking; with Hughes, whose ERA is 5.65, seriously struggling; with Clemens remaining inconsistent, probably not. Chamberlain’s unopposed run for mayor notwithstanding, the Yankees can’t afford to kid around if Hughes continues to distrust his stuff, if the inexperience of Kennedy, who pitched only two minor-league innings in 2006 after the Yankees drafted him 21st overall, becomes exposed as quickly as has Hughes.
“It didn’t look like [Kennedy] was successful only because they hadn’t seen him before,” Torre said. “He was able to change locations and speeds, was cool as can be.”
It’s been easier for Chamberlain to be an instant sensation throwing one or two innings. Most relievers can be successful with two pitches. Kennedy has a repertoire, a plan, and, seemingly, a presence, but the Yankees are holding babies as they start down this September toboggan run, so we’ll see. Even if Kennedy proves a prodigy, the struggles of Hughes may yet to turn out to be a Moose call.
Yesterday, Torre even held out the outside possibility that if Roger Clemens’ foot blisters force him to miss tomorrow’s turn, Mussina’s bullpen search for a new wrinkle could quickly bring his wrinkled 38-year-old arm back to the mound. The manager did not say Hughes is on a short leash, but in a tight September, of course he is.
“You have to understand this young man has not had anything negative professionally happen to him,” Torre said. “All this (minor-league) success has made his expectations of himself very lofty.
“His stuff is fine when he trusts it. He’s not going after hitters like when he first came up. He just needs to get a game where he has that aggressiveness back. It’s not just something young kids go through. We’ve witnessed Mussina.”
Increasingly, Yankees fans couldn’t bear to look. The fear of having to again made a first look at Ian Kennedy that much easier on the eyes.