Yankees await word after specialist's evaluation of Wang - 棒球

New York Yankees await word after specialist's evaluation of Chien-Ming Wang
by Marc Carig/The Star-Ledger
Friday April 24, 2009, 9:56 PM

BOSTON -- Yankees general manager Brian Cashman thinks the lingering effect
of the foot injury Chien-Ming Wang suffered last season is behind the
pitcher's troubles this season. But the team won't know for sure until at
least Saturday, when the specialist who examined Wang has a chance to
review his findings.

It may all lead to a disabled list stint for the righthander Wang, whose
brutal struggles through his first three starts have been among the most
stunning developments in all of baseball.

Wang, who remains at the Yankees minor league complex in Tampa, Fla.,
after pitching in an extended spring training game, underwent a battery
of tests with Mark Lindsay, a chiropractor and soft-tissue specialist with
a long track record of working with elite athletes. Lindsay had been working
with Alex Rodriguez during his rehab when the Yankees ask that he examine
Wang, who suffered a season-ending Lisfranc fracture in his right foot last
June.

Cashman said he believes that perhaps last year's injury and this year's
struggles are "somehow connected."

"Is it throwing something else off or has it created a problem somewhere
else?" Cashman said. "It's clearly affected this guy because we know what
he is. He's a perennial 18-game winner. Right now, that's not what you see."

Though Wang (along with Yankees manager Joe Girardi and pitching coach
Dave Eiland) has insisted that his health is fine, Cashman said there are
signs that say otherwise. A drop in velocity has been the most obvious
signal.

Wang's fastball velocity is just over 90 mph this season. Last season,
it was closer to 92.

"He's one of the best in the world when he's right," Cashman said.
"Clearly, his recovery from this Lisfranc fracture has taken some
twists and turns. We have time to get him going and I believe we will
get him going."

But until the Yankees make a determination on Wang, he will remain on
the 25-man roster and the team will play short a man.

http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2009/04/new_york_yankees_await_word_af.html

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