Yankee Talk: Wang’s All Wrong

Starterts struggles are a mystery


NEW YORK – When you only know success, it is very hard to deal with failure.

When your failure becomes more than a one-time occurrence, you begin to think it is just a small slump.

However, in the case of Chien-Ming Wang, this is more than just a slump; it is the equivalent of a full-blown explosion.

What happened?

After suffering a Lisfranc injury to his right foot rounding third base in a game in Houston, Wang rehabilitated and made what appeared to be good recovery.

In spring training, no indicators of lingering effects existed that would lead the Yankees to believe that he would be a problem this season.

After he was pulled after 3 and 2-3 innings in Baltimore, all it looked to be was one bad start. When it was followed up by an even worse performance in Tampa against the Rays, eye brows began to raise just slightly as to what could be going wrong with the team’s former two-time 19 game winner.

Then came Saturday afternoon against the Cleveland Indians.

He looked in normal form after one inning and when the offense gave him a 2-0 lead, it looked as if the team was going to get the quality start that they have used to out of their horse. And why not? Wang’s trademark sinker was diving down and he even picked a rare strikeout.

Suddenly, it all fell apart.

In a stunning turn of events, the same script of the first two starts reared itself again. The Indians hit him around as if he were batting practice. Wang only recorded one out in the inning, but not before he was tattooed for eight hits, eight runs and the crowd was growing restless and eventually hostile. Joe Girardi, who was already covering his eyes and watching in stunned disbelief had no choice now but to come to the mound slowly and yank him from the game to a chorus of boos that Wang has rarely heard in this nearly five years of tenure in pinstripes. His ERA now ballooned to an astronomical 34.50.

Now, such an ERA can be had in minimal innings pitched early in a season. However, with Wang there is one small problem:

This is over a course of three starts.

The numbers tell tale a tale uglier than a Harry Potter novel:

Three starts and three losses

Six innings pitched.

23 runs.

23 hits.

WHIP: 4.83

Scary numbers, no question. The problem is to this point, neither the Yankees are Wang know what is wrong. The right-hander has claimed to be injured despite the fact that he has not been able to run and his velocity, normally in the 93 to 96 MPH range has dropped into the 90 to 91 meter and with the trademark sinker hanging in the strike zone, it has become extended batting practice for hitters.

The body language when the camera is panned on him shows a man in disbelief, bewilderment and one of shaken confidence. It is obvious that some help is needed to build back up the pitcher who the teams had penciled in as its number two starter between CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett.

So what can the Yankees do?

A quick look at the schedule shows that his next start was to be Friday night against the Red Sox in Fenway Park. Talk about having a death wish. There was no way in the world they could pitch him in a place that has been his kryptonite throughout his career. Pitching him in that environment against a team that hits him better than almost anyone else (despite his occasional good performances, including a complete game last year) and risk further psychological damage, including possible ruin if he were to get pounded by Boston.

Using intelligence, the Yankees organization took full advantage of the Monday rainout against the Oakland Athletics to remove Wang from his start on Friday night while they try to figure out what is wrong. Could it be his delivery has changed? Are his mechanics out of whack? Let’s just say that pitching coach Dave Eiland is going to earn his money trying to decipher what is wrong.

It is quite possible that Wang is suffering a case of “David Cone Syndrome”. The theory behind it is that after Cone enjoyed one of his better seasons in 1999, including a dominant performance in Game 2 of the World Series that season, the pitcher came back the next season and mysteriously forgot how to pitch.

He was not injured, but his velocity had dipped. In 2000, he was awful, going 4-14 with a 6.91 ERA and was officially removed from the rotation in late July when it officially became something that the team could not control. This led to a trade for then Cincinnati Reds pitcher Denny Neagle, who pitched no better than Cone became another victim to the pressure of New York.

This is going to be a project to get Wang righted again. It will not take one week, but perhaps a month to fix all of his problems. For solace, remember last season when it appeared that Mike Mussina was finished as a pitcher. By the end of that year, Moose went on to win 20 games and be the teams MVP.

It's not as if he suddenly forgot how to pitch.

Right now for Wang, it is all wrong. The Yankees will not make the playoffs this season if they do not get this situation right.