More Than Mild Concern For Wang

It's time to start worrying about Chien-Ming Wang.

Bad starts are one thing only two starts into the season, but Wang has been so awful, not even the winless Nationals will go near him in fear that Wang's ineptitude will rub off on them. And if the Yankees are going to win this year, the need Wang to be the guy who won 19 games in each of 2006 and '07.

Monday against the Rays, he could not have been worse. Wang allowed eight runs on six hits in 1+ innings as the Yankees were thoroughly thrashed 15-5 by the Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Something clearly is wrong with Wang. Is he healthy? Is that Lisfranc tear still bothering? Is he rusty? Are his mechanics completely out of whack? Is he mentally messed up?

All are legit questions and we don't have the answers right now. All we can do is speculate.

I don't think this has to with the Lisfranc tear still affecting him physically. In the second inning, Wang bounded off the mound and flew toward the third base line to field a topper from B.J. Upton. If last season's injury was still physically bothering Wang, there is no way he moves like that.

Joe Girardi doesn't seem to believe Wang is hurting either. Here's was he told Newsday's Kat O'Brien:

"He said he physically feels great. You just go back to the drawing board. You
just go back to work.”

But clearly something is off. Wang's sinker once again was not diving. He struggled to throw strikes and anything he got in the zone was left up and hammered. He threw 61 pitches, only 34 for strikes. His ERA exploded to 28.93.

“Just up in the zone. Wang’s going through some delivery problems. … Wanger
is better than that, and he knows it,” Jorge Posada told Newsday.

Wang even said the beatings are affecting his confidence.

The question is what to do? Can the Yankees really afford to let Wang work out his problems in bullpen sessions and risk taxing their bullpen as they did Monday. Yes, it's only April and there is a lot of time left in the season, but with the AL East ultra-competitive with three teams likely fighting for two playoff spots, games in April are just as important as games in September -- you just can't tell if a loss in April will be the difference in the end.

I think the better course of action would to "re-examine" that foot and find a reason to give Wang a two-week breather on the DL. Let him go down to rehab to rebuild that delivery and regain some confidence. Phil Hughes won't be worse than Wang has been.

The Good
There wasn't a lot. The best news of the day came from Tampa, where Alex Rodriguez resumed baseball activities. Rodriguez said he'll be able to get a feel over the next few days about how quickly he'll be able to return, but added he's hopeful he return by the end of the month. Also, Mark Teixeira was diagnosed with mild tendinitis in his wrist and is likely to play today.

Nick Swisher continued his hot hitting going 1-for3 with a homer and two runs. He also was robbed of another homer by left fielder Carl Crawford, who made a leaping catch at the wall. Swisher won't be coming out of the lineup until he cools off. Posada went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI, raising his average to .350. Melky Cabrera had two hits and Ransom had an RBI single, his second hit of the year. Ransom went 1-for-4 and is hitting .083.

The Bad
How awful was the Yankees pitching? Put it like this, Swisher was the most effective Yankee to take the mound. Swisher pitched a scoreless eighth, throwing only a changeup that ranged from 71-80 mph. He was the only pitcher not to be scored upon and he was the first position player to pitch for the Yankees since Wade Boggs threw knucklers in 1997. More importantly, Swisher's inning allowed Girardi to save Brian Bruney and Jose Veras for Tuesday. Otherwise, Jonathan Albaladejo allowed three runs on five hits and a walk in three innings. He served up a grand slam to his first batter, Carlos Pena, in the second. Edwar Ramirez allowed a run on four hits in two inning and Phil Coke was touched for three unearned runs on three hits and two walks in his inning of work.

The top of the lineup is also struggling with Derek Jeter going 0-for-3, dropping his average to .207, and Johnny Damon going 0-for-3 to fall to .227. Hideki Matsui's 0-for-3 dropped his average to .125.

What We Learned
Wang is not a given right now. Pitching coach Dave Eiland has a lot of work to do and will have to work fast if the Yankees are to weather this storm

Hey Dave ...
I'm willing to admit there is reason for concern with Wang. Are you willing admit reason for concern with Jon Lester following the Red Sox's 8-2 loss to the A's, dropping them to 2-5 and keeping them in last in the AL East?

Runners On Third With Less Than Two Outs
Monday
One opportunity
0-for-1
Season
12 opportunities
2-for-12, 3B, SF, 5 RBI, 8 R, GIDP

Tuesday's Game
At Rays, 7:08 p.m., Local TV (Check your local listings)
A.J. Burnett (1-0, 3.37) vs. Matt Garza (1-0, 1.29)

Burnett will need to come up with another big outing with the bullpen taxed by Wang's short day. Seven innings would be nice. Expect David Robertson to be called up and Albaladejo sent down as the Yanks call on some bullpen reinforcements. Alfredo Aceves started Saturday for Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and likely won't be available. Brett Tomko could be called up, but that move would require taking someone else off the 40-man roster.