DETROIT – Kei Igawa was the only one who truly believed he wasn’t awful Friday night against the Tigers when he cemented the fact that he is the biggest waste of $46 million in a Yankee history. At least they are collecting insurance on the $40 million endowment they dropped on Carl “American Idle” Pavano.
Of course, manager Joe Girardi found something positive to say because it’s not Girardi’s style to criticize players to the media.
However, as bad as Igawa was – and he was putrid – the lefty remains in play to start Wednesday against the Rays in St. Petersburg.
“I don’t have news that someone else is going to start,” Girardi said when asked yesterday about Igawa working Wednesday. “That’s our plan.”
After Igawa gave up six runs and 11 hits in three-plus innings in a 6-5 loss Friday night, it was hard to believe he would get another chance. Yet, with Phil Hughes on the DL, Ian Kennedy pitching today for SWB (Triple-A) and the Yankees not wanting to rush Daniel McCutchen from Double-A or give Chase Wright another chance, Igawa is the only option.
Dan Giese, Jeffrey Marquez and Steven White are in the SWB rotation but if they have impressed anybody the Yankees wouldn’t be clinging to their plan to look at Igawa again.
Of course, they could get a break today when it’s supposed to pour all day long. A postponement would mean they wouldn’t need a fifth starter until Friday and that could be Kennedy, who was shipped out Tuesday.
Of course, the Yankees would love to see Igawa contribute just a little in return for the $46 million it cost them to get him out of Japan prior to the 2007 season.
Very perplexing to the naked eye was the reaction Girardi and Igawa had to the way he pitched. Girardi said Igawa didn’t have command of anything but the fastball; Igawa said his change-up and slider were OK.
“You have to be able to throw off-speed pitches for strikes,” Girardi said. “He didn’t pitch like he is capable of. We need him with all his weapons, not just one.”
Then Igawa said this: “My change-up worked well in terms of control and the slider only missed on three pitches.”
Kennedy wasn’t ready for major league hitters. Hughes was struggling when a fractured rib was discovered. So the Yankees turned to Darrell Rasner and he posted his second win in as many starts yesterday. What they wanted from Igawa was help.