壞球帶雨神作祟
2006 年 09 月 17 日 發表留言
WANG’S THE ONE
RIGHTY SHOULD OPEN PLAYOFFS
王是第一人選
這位右投手應該開啟季後賽
September 16, 2006 — IT was raining hard enough in the pregame yesterday for Joe Torre to abandon his familiar perch in the home dugout and instead chat with the media in the corridor outside the Yankees’ clubhouse.
For nearly 13 minutes, Torre talked about injuries, seeing Hideki Matsui play left field, and the current benefits of having Sal Fasano catch Jaret Wright. The Red Sox were down the hall, and Torre hardly mentioned them. What a powerful statement – and non-statement – about where we are now. It is mid-September and, really, all that matters for the Yanks is October.
A month ago that would have been impossible to believe. But the Yanks stormed into Fenway in mid-August, swept five games, and reduced this current series to what feels like the most meaningless Red Sox-Yankees matchup since Dooley Womack was trying to retire Joe Foy (ask your fathers).
That has permitted Torre to treat the rest of the schedule as a testing ground for the playoffs, to gather the final crumbs in shaping his roster, lineup and pitching staff. Torre and pitching coach Ron Guidry each said they would not establish a postseason rotation until they know their first-round opponent.
But why wait until the Tigers, Twins and White Sox sort themselves out? To me, the only interest left in Red Sox-Yankees is this: Due to a rainout yesterday, the teams will play doubleheaders today and tomorrow. If the Yanks sweep today and win tomorrow’s opener, they will clinch the AL East. At that point, the Yanks could celebrate between games, permitting Torre to deliver a salvo against an entity he hates, ESPN, by either starting a drunk team or a club full of Andy Cannizaros and Kevin Thompsons in the nightcap for the network’s prime-time game.
For now, Torre is planning to go with Chien-Ming Wang followed by Randy Johnson in today’s doubleheader and Jaret Wright followed by Mike Mussina tomorrow. Those are the four guys who should comprise the Division Series rotation, and here is the order they should pitch and why:
WANG IN GAME 1 -He has pitched much better at home than on the road, and whoever starts the opener would, if necessary, also start a decisive Game 5 at Yankee Stadium. A few weeks back there was concern about Wang far exceeding his highest inning total ever. He has tempered those frets by pitching well recently and actually now projects as the Yankees starter most capable of handling a heavy workload. If his signature hard sinker is on, it does not matter if a team sees him twice in a series. There is little adjustment that could be made to that pitch.
JOHNSON IN GAME 2 -He actually has performed better on the road. Still, there are benefits to pitching a lefty at the Stadium. Also, as he showed again in last year’s Division Series, there are advantages to having Johnson available in relief in the postseason. If he starts in Game 2, he could be available out of the pen in Games 4 or 5.
MUSSINA IN GAME 3 – Torre always has thought this is the most important game in a series, more so if the game is on the road, which it would be here. Torre would want his pitcher most likely not to be impacted by that kind of outside distraction, and that probably is Mussina.
WRIGHT IN GAME 4 – Cory Lidle has tendinitis in his pitching hand, which Torre said has robbed some effectiveness from the righty’s splitter. Wright has pitched better recently teamed with Fasano, peppering the strike zone more. This might be a close call, but the nod goes to Wright because his stuff is better, he has more postseason experience than Lidle (including starting a World Series Game 7), and when a decision is close, loyalty should matter. Wright has been part of the team all year, caused no problems when he was bounced in and out of the rotation and – unlike, say, Carl Pavano – has gained clubhouse-wide respect for working through myriad injuries. There is some enticement when it comes to rookies Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner, but way too much mystery to trust them in October over Wright.
joel.sherman@nypost.com
昨天賽前雨下的夠大，使得Torre放棄他在主場球員休息室熟悉的休息處，反而在洋基俱樂部會所外的長廊和媒體聊天。
將近13分鐘，Torre談到受傷，看Matsui防守左外野，和受惠於讓Fasano當捕手接Wright的球。紅襪已到大廳，而Torre幾乎沒提到他們。多有力的陳述–和未陳述—關於我們現在在那裏。現在是9月中旬，而對洋基真正重要的是10月。
一個月前根本不可能相信的事。但洋基在8月中旬猛攻入芬威球場，橫掃5場比賽，把目前系列賽降低到感覺像是自從Dooley Womack正試圖使Joe Foy出局以來最無意義的基襪對戰。（問你們的父親）—-我也不知，有人能答嗎？
那容許Torre視剩下的賽程為季後賽的一個試驗基礎，以便收集最後的少數人形成他的球員名單、打線名單、和投手成員。Torre和投手教練Guidry每人都說直到他們知道他們的第一輪對手，他們才會建立季後賽的先發輪值。
但為何要等到老虎、雙城、和白襪他們自己挑出呢？對我，紅襪洋基系列賽唯一有興趣的是：由於昨天因雨延期，二隊今天和明天將打雙重賽，如果洋基今天橫掃和贏明天第一場，他們將最終贏得美聯東區王座。在那觀點上，洋基可能在比賽之間慶祝，容許Torre經由啟用一個醉酒的球隊或充滿Andy Cannizaros 和 Kevin Thompsons類的人，在睡前對他討厭的ESPN網路精華時間的比賽送上喝采。
現在Torre計畫在今天的雙重賽先用王建民接著R.J.，明天先用Wright接著Mussina。那4人應該包括在區域性系列賽的先發輪值，而這裏是他們應該投球的順序和為什麼：
王 投第1場比賽
他在主場投的比客場好太多，而且如果需要的話，誰開幕戰先發，也會在洋基主場先發決定性的第5場比賽。幾週前有人擔心王投球遠超過他曾經投球局數的總和，他以最近投的很好來緩和那些憂慮，而且實際上現在呈現出洋基最能承受重擔的先發投手。如果他的招牌重重的下沉球繼續，是否在同一系列賽裏一個球隊看過他二次就無關緊要了。那次投球可以做很少的調整。
R.J. 投第2場比賽
他實際上在客場表現較好，左投仍然能受惠於主場。而且如同他在去年區域性系列賽所顯現的，讓R.J.在季後賽救援可以用到也是有利的。如果他在第2場先發，他可以在第4或第5場比賽擔任救援工作。
Mussina. 投第3場比賽
Torre總是認為這是在系列賽中最重要的比賽，大部份如果比賽在客場，將會是這一場。Torre會要他最不會被外面的吵雜所影響的投手，那可能是Mussina。
Wright 投第4場比賽
Lidle在他投球的手肌腱發炎，Torre說它使這位右投手的指叉球喪失某些效果。Wright最近和Fasano搭配投的較好，擲在好球帶較多。這可能是一個比分接近的判決，但要由Wright來投，因為他的球質較好，他比Lidle有較多的季後賽經驗(包括先發世界大賽第7場比賽)，而且當結果很接近時，忠誠應該是重點。Wright整年都是這個球隊的成員，當他進進出出先發都沒產生問題，不像Pavano，Wright經歷無數的受傷已經得到球隊的敬重。當涉及Karstens 和 Rasner時是有一些引誘性，但太過難以理解以致無法在10月越過Wright去信賴他們。
