From Mark Feinsand (Daily News):
“He just pounds, pounds and pounds the zone, which is frustrating,” Cash said. “He’s a strike-thrower that doesn’t get hit very hard, similar to Roy Halladay. There are plenty of other guys you’d rather see on the mound than him.”
That’s Kevin Cash on Chien-Ming Wang — you may remember him from last year (it seems like most people forgot). Cash makes a nice comparison to Roy Halladay, calling Wang a “strike-thrower.” Wang will need to keep his walks in check and continue throwing sinkers in order to remain successful. Wang’s BB/9 last year — 3.32 — was significantly higher than it’s ever been since his debut season in 2005 (that year, it was 2.48). Wang’s strikeout rate also ticked up in 2008, which is nice, but if it means sacrificing control, is it worth it?
For the record, Hallday’s BB/9 in 2008 was 1.43.
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6 Responses to The Forgotten Wang
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TIQ IQ
Not worth it- there’s no reason for him to alter what he was doing.
I think he was working on developing other pitches when he got hurt. I’m not sure he wouldn’t have been able to bring down his walk total by fall if he didn’t get hurt.
He was definitely going to the slider more, from what I can recall.
CMW has been told time and again, he should strike out more batters. To do that he had to throw more sliders etc., also it gets the hitter off the sinker. The problem is, his Command and Control of his other pitches. With another year (this year) to work on things, I look for him to be at 20+ wins this year.
Any way you approach this season, the Yankees have the best starting 5 I have seen since the 1940s/50s. Vic Rashi, Allie Reynolds, Ed Lopat etc., somewhere around 1948/50. Just off the top of my head, I can’t place another team, maybe someone else can!
He’s the perfect #3 starter on a World Series type team.
I think part of the reason his walks per 9 was high was he didn’t play out the entire season. He got beat up a bit in his last couple of starts. That must have thrown it off a little bit and he didn’t have time to make up for it.