TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy were projected to be future aces by the Yankees a year ago. Instead, New York wound up with a pair of 0-4s and the young pitchers are unsure whether they’ll be in the majors or minors come opening day.
New York wouldn’t part with them after the 2007 season, not even if it would help land Johan Santana.
No counting on youth this year. The Yankees spent $243.5 million to add CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. And with Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte and Joba Chamberlain also slotted to start, barring injury there appears to be no room for Hughes and Kennedy in the oval, 36-stall clubhouse at the new Yankee Stadium.
“As long as I pitch well, I think I’ll have an opportunity,” Hughes said Sunday after his first bullpen session of the year at Steinbrenner Field. “And if all five of our starters go through the year and make every one of their starts, great. That’s obviously what they’re looking forward to. I’m just trying to work hard and find a place to fit it somewhere.”
d be Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. As of now, the team doesn’t want to use them as long relievers, which could stunt development.
“They’re not moping and whining about, `Oh we signed this guy, we signed that guy.’ They’re getting after it,” pitching coach Dave Eiland said. “Our expectations have not changed. I’m still very, very excited about those two, as we all are.”
Just 22, Hughes is at big league spring training for the fourth time. Kennedy, 24, has just three seasons of professional baseball experience.
New York’s must-win-every-game attitude allows little room for learning at the big league level.
“I’m sure there’s anticipation in their minds, where they’re going to be, maybe some anxiousness, trying to figure out what’s going to happen,” manager Joe Girardi said.
He inherited the pair when he replaced Joe Torre after the 2007 season. They were counted on to stabilize the Yankees’ rotation following a tumultuous season in which New York started 14 different pitchers. With no top stars available on the free-agent market, New York decided to hold onto its prized prospects as if they were newly discovered diamonds.
il August and wound up going 5-3 with a 4.46 ERA in 13 starts.
Kennedy, more of a finesse pitcher in the manner of Mike Mussina, was selected with the 21st pick of the 2006 draft. He arrived in the majors in September 2007 and went 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA.
General manager Brian Cashman said other teams made tempting trade offers. Still, he cautioned that “prospects are suspects.”
They weren’t just suspect in April, they were awful.
Hughes was 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA in six starts before going on the disabled list with a broken rib on April 30. He didn’t return until late September, when he got a pair of no-decisions and finished with a 6.62 ERA.
Kennedy lasted just seven outs in his first start, giving six runs, four hits and four walks to the Rays. He was hit on right hip by Jason Bartlett’s liner at Tampa Bay on April 14 and while he made his next turn six days later at Baltimore, he fell behind in the count to 13 of 17 batters in a 6-0 loss.
with an 8.17 ERA.
“I just felt like last year was a big learning process for me,” Kennedy said.
There was no shortage of advice. Some people thought his problem was mechanical. He did not. Some thought he needed to be more aggressive. While Girardi said self-doubt might have been a factor with both, Kennedy said Chad Bohling, the team’s director of mental conditioning, kept him confident.
“Everybody’s heart is in the right place. They all want to help, and sometimes it’s a lot to take in, and you have to pick one thing from somebody, another thing from somebody,” Kennedy said. “But in the end you’ve got to stay true to yourself and know that it’s going to be all right.”
New York sent the pair to pitch in the offseason. Hughes, trying to regain command of his fastball, was 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA over seven starts in the Arizona Fall League, and he struck out 38 and walked 13 in 30 innings.
He added 10 pounds of muscle with a high-calorie, high-exercise diet. His frame is fuller this spring, and he arrived with a fresh attitude following a frustrating year.
“You don’t go into spring training with the ERA you had at the end of the year. It’s kind of a good way to clear your head,” he said.
Kennedy was 2-2 with a 1.56 ERA in six starts at Puerto Rico’s winter league, striking out 31 and walking 12 in 34 2-3 innings.
up and mope and not get after and not work, or say, `You know what, I learned from that and I’m going to make sure it doesn’t happen again,”’ Eiland said. “That’s the attitude both of them have.”
Notes: CC Sabathia kept his beard on Day 2 of workouts, but it won’t last much longer. The Yankees have rules on allowable facial hair and length of hair. “Our manager will handle it at some point,” Cashman said. “I don’t even think we’ve posted our team rules yet.” … Wang, who missed the final 3 1/2 months last season because of a foot injury, is on a restricted running program and will do most of his conditioning work indoors. “Everything’s good,” said Wang, who threw off a bullpen mound Sunday. … RHP Alfredo Aceves has decided not to pitch for Mexico in this year’s World Baseball Classic.
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