Another start, another disaster for Mike Mussina.
Over at
Was Watching, Steve Lombardi compares Mussina to
Luis Tiant circa 1980, when the ex-Red Sox star went 8-9 with a 4.89 ERA in 25 starts with the Yankees. Of course, the Yankees did finish that season in first place.
Over at
Bronx Banter, Cliff Corcoran drops in a bunch of Mussina's postgame comments and wonders who might take Mussina's spot in the rotation if management decides to make a change. Apparently the fans are screaming for
Ian Kennedy, but Corcoran doesn't think he's going to starting against the Devil Rays on Saturday ...
As to who that starter might be, Ian Kennedy has been fantastic since being promoted to Triple-A along with Joba Chamberlain, but, like Joba, Kennedy is a first-year pro on a strict innings limit. Joba's supposedly being held to 130 total innings (he's at 97 1/3 right now). Kennedy has already thrown 146 1/3 across three minor league levels. I'd be very surprised to see the Yankees push him into the major league rotation at this point in the season, despite his minor league dominance.
How dominant has Kennedy been? In 35 innings with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he's got a 2.08 ERA with 34 strikeouts and 11 walks. And he was just as dominant earlier in the season, first in Class A, then Double-A. And he's not exactly a baby; he'll turn 23 in December. So he's older than Detroit's
Andrew Miller, who's started a dozen games in the majors this season. But ay,
there's the rub: Miller hasn't pitched all that well. Yes, he's pitched better than Mussina has lately, but it's not like you can just throw some kid out there and assume he'll give you six good innings every time.
Corcoran says the choice really is between
Kei Igawa, who's got a 6.79 ERA this season in the majors, and
Steven White, who's never pitched in the majors at all. This is what you might call a true dilemma, in the
classic sense of that word. And somehow I doubt if the Yankees will be able to sing this bull to sleep.
Rob Neyer
