Yankees young guns paying big dividends down the stretch
Thus far in September, Hughes, Kennedy and Joba have paid some serious dividends to extend our lead in the WC race, and the future looks pretty nice from where I am sitting.
Since Sept 1, Hughes has made 2 starts, both yankee victories, allowing 3ER in 12IP, while allowing 13 baserunners. What was even more encouraging was that he is starting to locate that big bender and his fastball seems to have come up a couple ticks since his poor return to the rotation.
Since Sept 1, Ian Kennedy has made 3 starts (2 Yankee victories and a 9th inning loss). In those starts, he has thrown 19innings allowing only 13 hits. His walk totals are high (9) but anyone who saw his start last night can see that he is not wild. He locates a solid arsenal well and changes speeds to fool the hitters. Both kids have a long way to go, but since September started, the yanks are 4-1 in their starts and they look like they are going to be hanging around in this rotation for a good long while.
Meanwhile, Joba has thrown 16 innings with 0ER while K'ing 20. His 0.88WHIP looks pretty sick as well. He has been exactly what the yankees needed out of the pen. In all likelihood, he starts next season in AAA to stretch out the arm and then will come up once Mussina hits the shits again. But there is a real likelihood that Hughes, Chamberlain, and Kennedy will see significant time in the rotation next yr, which is a refreshing change from the hired mercs of old. If these kids can stay on course and develop as expected, the yankees will be really happy.
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