Later today, Dustin Moseley will make his first start in a Yankee uniform. He’s pitched in four games for the Yankees to the tune of a 4.22 ERA. He’s showed okay control with a 3.4 BB/9 but his K/9 is under 5 and his H/9 is also very low, coming in below 6, which is obviously something he can’t keep up. His FIP in this small sample is also 5.73 with an xFIP of 4.70. Of course, these numbers have come in 10.2 innings so they mean next to nothing.
All I’m asking for tonight, Dustin, is that you last at least five innings and give up no more than five runs. You’re facing the Indians, so maybe I could expect more than that. But, with the way Sergio Mitre pitched against the Royals in his spot start, I’m not holding my breath on anything great. All I can really hope for is that Moseley doesn’t embarrass himself, get hurt, or put the Yankees in an awful position in terms of the bullpen.
This Pettitte injury really makes me miss Alfredo Aceves. Maybe I was selling him short in thinking he could probably never be more than a spot-starter at best, but he’d be a better option over Mitre, Moseley, and Chad Gaudin. Hopefully he doesn’t experience yet another set back in his recovery from a back injury and can come back healthy for the playoff push.
The other thing the Pettitte injury makes me think about is what I said at the beginning of the year in relation to the fifth starter “competition” from Spring Training. If the Yankees had sent Joba Chamberlain to the minors instead of to the Major League bullpen when they announced Phil Hughes would be the fifth starter, he would be making the starts. And despite how poorly he’s pitched, we can’t say that it would be exactly the same had he started the year in AAA and he’d likely be another upgrade over the aforementioned pitchers. Of course, not everything can go the way we want it to.
The Yankees, with regards to Moseley and Mitre (and possibly Ivan Nova later), are doing what every team does when dealing with injury: they’re mixing, they’re matching, and they’re trying as best they can to plug leaks.
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3 Responses to Hoping for the best
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TIQ IQ
Matt, do you think that, until Pettitte returns, there’s any chance of Nova either coming up to start or serve as a long-man “caddy” in case Moseley can only go four innings or so?
I think if Moseley really screws up today–like, as bad as Mitre did the other day/more runs than IP, etc–then, yeah, I can see it. In fact, I think I’d rather see Nova at this point.
Now that Moseley comes through with 1 run, 4 hits and 2 BBs given up in 6 innings (and I am considering the Indians’ non-top of the line offense), you think he just might be deserving of another start?
On the other hand, have you seen an inning lately pitched as badly as Park’s 9th? Shoot, I’m 73 and was starting to warm up.