A quick look at the AAA roster doesn’t look too promising for possible starters to fill in for Wang while he’s out. If Ian Kennedy was healthy, he’d be the logical choice, but we can’t do anything on that front but wish him a quick and full recovery. Kei Igawa is… well… Kei Igawa, Kontos is on the 7-day DL, Nova has only just been promoted and McCallister is still in AA Trenton. The one name mentioned as a possibility is Sergio Mitre. Is he a legitimate option?
History: The Accused psp The Yanks acquired Mitre as a FA in January, after Mitre recovered from Tommy John surgery (the Yanks loooove their guys coming off of TJ, don’t they?). He’s been with the Cubs and the Marlins organizations, having good success in the minors, but never putting it together in the big leagues, due either to injuries or just sheer lack of stuff, it’s hard to be sure. He put up a 2.98 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 8.3 k/9 in AAA of 2004 (age 23) which got him a promotion to the Cubbies rotation, but his career major league ERA of 5.36 in 310 innings pretty much sums up his general futility against big league competition. This year, he’s gone 2-1 with a 3.26 ERA for Scranton.
Stuff: Mitre has a sinking fastball averaging 90.1 mph for his career. He mainly relies on that sinker, tossing in an average change and curve on occasion. A 90 mph sinker is slightly above average for a major league pitcher, but to rely on it extensively is dangerous. Lefties have generally slaughtered him.
A Mighty Heart video Outlook: The Yankees must have a certain amount of faith in him if they bothered to sign him off of all his injury problems, but his track record is not good. He’s been as bad as Igawa in the big leagues with similar questions, mainly: is his stuff good enough to get major league hitters out? The answer so far is no. Mitre may be a last ditch type option with the primary option being to stretch out Aceves and fit him into the role. Why not just stretch out Hughes, then? I don’t think they want to jerk him around, making him start the season as a starter, make him into a reliever, stretch him back out into a starter, only to put him back in the pen after a month. Aceves is an older, more experienced pitcher with a more resilient arm, so the risk is lesser. What do you guys think the Yanks should do?
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17 Responses to Now Starting: Sergio Mitre?
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TIQ IQ
Yankees need to go out and acquire a REAL starting pitcher.Give up a few middling prospects for someone a team can’t afford to resign and would like to get out from under the current contract.
Pettite is on his last legs and Joba is NOT a top flite starter right now.
That leaves 2 really reliable starting pitchers and 2 fair ones in Andy and Joba.
The big names in the minor leagues are disappointing and Kennedy & the 2 6’9 kids,Brackman & Bettances & are nowhere close to being major league pitchers.
Besides MAcAllister, who might be ready to step up as a horse type starter from the Minors?
Bleich?
I doubt it.
They need to go out and get a starter if they want to win a WS.
The best option is to package Hughes and Aceves into a single pitcher on Thursday. The Yanks should be able to get 6-7 innings out of the two of them. I’d then stretch Hughes out (others have suggested sending him to Trenton during the All Star Break to get in another start) and have him in the rotation permanently. Keep Wang on the DL until he shows some semblance of success in the minors, and if he still isn’t cruising, bring HIM back in the bullpen.
There is no reason to put a bad starter in for 5+ innings just to “lock-down” the 7-8th innings with Hughes/Aceves.
I think they’re worried that a Hughes-Aceves start would deplete their bullpen for subsequent games.
Mitre is a guy with a talent, so I wouldn’t mind seeing what he can do, although he doesn’t seem like a true replacement.
Problem is, they’d have to have him start probably three times before Hughes was ready to be a full-time starter. That’s a serious blow to the bullpen which has bailed them out many times in the past few weeks. Also, I think they’ve learned their lesson with the Joba issue in screwing with pitchers back and forth between the rotation and bullpen. I’d imagine Hughes stays in the pen the rest of the season and goes out next season to dominate as a starter.
I dont like the Hughes-Aceves option. That is fine short term but not good for more than two starts. I actually prefer Mitre/Igawa/Towers and possibly McAllister. In terms of stuff, I think that Nova may be the best option but I am afraid that he is the least able to go emotionally. Bottom line is this: If I had to handicap who gives us the best option to win over 5 starts with minimal impact to what we have already going, then we go with one of Mitre-Igawa-Towers. Going with Nova/McAllister is high risk/reward but will likely fail.
Igawa – I know it sounds crazy but this could be the best chance to boost his trade value. When he gets the ball down he does not look so bad. His AAA numbers can’t totally be based on smoke and mirrors can they?
On thing they could do is stretch Ace out and bring in Igawa for multiple innings… this would at the same time place a stronger push on trading for a good bull pen arm.
I actually love the idea of going with either Nova or McAllister and while I understand the high risk. reward but I think it would be worth the shot especially with the bullpen behind them now.
For Mitre Igawa or Towers to get a start they need to be on the 40 man. Which none of them are. Someone on the 40 man needs to be released. Looking at the roster other then Tomko and Ransom who are they going to risk releasing? Cash? Albaladejo? Claggett? Miranda? Edwar Ramirez? The other roster spots are prospects and guys on the 25 man.
It will be Aceves with the start Thursday.
Their 40-man isn’t full at the moment I don’t believe. I think the whole getting rid of Jose Veras thing solved that problem.
I’d imagine that Aceves will get stretched out and be the guy until Wang gets back. He already pitched 4 innings yesterday so he doesn’t have that much stretching to do. He has been a starter his whole career after all
Tom,
I worry that we are messing with the best bullpen rotation that we have had the whole year. I like aceves but he is a vital cog in relief. Otherwise, I agree with you.
True, but it’s only for a month and Hughes can phil the Aceves role nicely while Robertson may be ready for an expanded look. Not to mention a guy named Melancon in the minors. I feel like we have so many more good options in the pen to replace Aceves. Igawa and Mitre, on the other hand, I think will get slaughtered and wind up burning Aceves every 5th day anyway in relief, no?
Yes,exactly right. Three out of five blow ups and we have the same problem. Based on tonight Aceves in startuing role and Melancon up. Melancon looks like he is getting it back but still no strikeouts.
With the way Hughes, Aceves and Coke have pitched lately, the Yankees finally have a solid bridge to Rivera. I don’t think they want to mess with it right now so they should probably just go with Mitre. If that doesn’t work, just bring up the kids. They only need to last 5 innings since we have a good bullpen now.
I like the Igawa option also.
I’ve heard he throws a slider not a curve. Also, he won 10 or so games back when Girardi won his manager of the year award with the fish.
Aceves pitched 4 innings on Sunday. There is absolutely no reason he can’t pitch 5-6. Then we can figure it out after the all star break.