Proctor Could Be Headed to The Rotation

[Anuj09]

From MLB.com

NEW YORK -- With a less-than-plentiful crop of pitchers on the free-agent market, the Yankees may look within their own organization to fill some spots on the pitching staff in 2007.

 

One of those could be the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation. One of the leading internal candidates? Scott Proctor.

 

Proctor was an integral piece of the Yankees bullpen in 2006, appearing in 83 games, tops in the American League. The right-hander posted a 6-4 record and 3.52 ERA, recording one save in his breakout season, but more importantly, he showed the Yankees that he had no fear when it comes to attacking the opposition.

 

Although the Yankees have not officially told Proctor to train as a starter this winter, he had a conversation with general manager Brian Cashman a few weeks ago in which they discussed the possibility.

 

"If I come into camp prepared to be a starter, it's much easier to go back to be a reliever," Proctor said. "You need to be in better shape to be a starter, because you're throwing more innings. Going back to the bullpen is an easier adjustment."

 

Last spring, New York had actually planned to convert Proctor back into a starter and insert him into the rotation at Triple-A Columbus, but an injury to Aaron Small led to Proctor making the Opening Day roster in the bullpen, where he went from being the last man on the staff to one of the most important arms on the team.

 

"He became very prominent out of our bullpen," manager Joe Torre said. "Our goal is to get him the ball, and having him become a starter will enable him to use all of his pitches, which is important. We think he's certainly capable."

 

Proctor was used primarily as a starter during his Minor League days with the Dodgers, starting 61 of his 105 games between 1998-2002. He was converted into a full-time reliever in 2003 while pitching in Double-A, and has made just two starts since then -- one for the Yankees and one for Columbus -- both coming in 2005.

 

"I know I only got one start for the Yankees, but I think that showed that I can go through the lineup more than one time," Proctor said. "It's definitely not an easy thing to do, because big-league hitters are good, and the more you face them, the more adjustments they make. The mental battle is part of the fun of it."

 

Torre believes that Proctor's stuff makes him more conducive to being a starter, as he could utilize his variety of pitches to his advantage. As a reliever, he throws his fastball most of the time, occasionally mixing in his offspeed and breaking pitches.

 

The emergence of Brian Bruney in the bullpen will help ease the loss of Proctor in the seventh inning should he make the move. Bruney appeared in 19 games for the Yankees after being called up in August, posting a 0.87 ERA while striking out 25 in 20 2/3 innings.

 

"We used Bruney in very key spots," Torre said.

 

Proctor's 102 1/3 innings in 2006 were his highest total since 2002, when he tossed 133 1/3 innings in Double-A. He believes that, with enough work, he'll be able to handle the workload required of a starting pitcher.

 

"You condition yourself the best you can, and hopefully the work you do in the offseason pays off during the season," Proctor said. "I can't really tell you how my body is going to react, but I'm going to come into camp ready to go."

 

The Yankees have Chien-Ming Wang, Randy Johnson and Carl Pavano signed for the 2007 rotation, with Mike Mussina expected to re-sign sometime this week. But Johnson is coming off back surgery and Pavano hasn't thrown a pitch in the Majors since June 2005 because of a multitude of injuries, so the Yankees are putting backup plans in place. Proctor is one of those plans.

 

"I'm taking it as a compliment," Proctor said. "Any time they're looking to you in a high-impact role, whether it's as a setup guy or a starter, that's major. For them to think of you as being able to fill that spot, that's great."

 

"We'll see what our choices are," Torre said. "We anticipate that Randy will be a little slow catching up because of his surgery, and we'd love to count on Pavano in a big way, but it's unfair to assume that he's going to be taking the ball every five days. We'll see what our needs are."

 

Whatever happens, Proctor is excited to know that he is in the Yankees' plans one way or another for the upcoming season.

 

"The worst position you can be in as a pitcher is to be in a blowout game that doesn't matter," Proctor said. "My main goal is to be in the big-leagues and to help us win a championship. I don't have a preference either way."

[jacksonianmarch]

this is a tough topic. Proctor was a total lynchpin of the pen last yr, one of their unspoken MVPs if you will. But when you go from being a 50 inning a yr pitcher to having to throw over 100 innings, wear begins to take effect. If he is asked to throw another 100innings of relief, he will blow out. If he goes to the rotation, I think he would have some success, but he truly lacks that 3rd pitch that I have doubted Papelbon on. He has a hard heater and a sick slider, but his changeup is pathetic at best. If he doesnt develop a 3rd pitch, he will be Jaret Wright without the sub 5 era. This really could blow up in their face and would definitely weaken an area that I thought was a strength for the yankees going into 07 That middle relief (although poor in overall numbers) was very solid when a lead needed holding. That is a marker of a good pen, and Proctor was the best guy in that middle. Moving him would put a lot of pressure on Bruney and Britton, something I dont think they can handle as yet.

[26 to 6]

Although I think he is certainly capable, based on his performance out of the pen this past year, I think it would be best to leave him there.