Yankees GM Trying To Solve Crisis With Chien-Ming Wang - 棒球

Yankees GM Trying To Solve Crisis With Chien-Ming Wang
By DOM AMORE | The Hartford Courant
April 23, 2009
NEW HAVEN -

The eye of a pitching coach was only a starting point for Brian Cashman.

"We were talking about Chien-Ming Wang," the Yankees general manager said, "
and [coach] Dave Eiland said, 'I think his arm angle is higher.' I said,
'We can measure that.' So our people looked at video in each stadium
last year, and we discovered that it's five inches higher."

In a wide-ranging discussion at Southern Connecticut State University
with ESPN"s Peter Gammons and area Yankees fans Wednesday, Cashman
described the processes employed by the modern GM, the tools at his
disposal and how they're used.

"It's just a way of quantifying things," he said.

Wang is the biggest problem the Yankees face at the moment. An elite
pitcher, Wang won 46 games in 2 1/2 years before a serious foot injury
last June. In his first three starts this season, he has allowed 23 runs
in six innings.

"His velocity is down, and his sinkerball isn't sinking," Cashman said.
"So we're starting by analyzing him physically."

Wang is in Tampa, Fla., where he will throw 100 pitches in an extended
spring training game today. And there will be emphasis on correcting
that arm angle.

Wang's next possible start would be in Detroit on Tuesday, but if the
results in Tampa today are not satisfactory, he could be put on the
disabled list.

"I saw a pitcher was recently DLed for 'arm fatigue,'" Cashman said,
alluding to the Red Sox's Daisuke Matsuzaka. "We haven't ruled anything out."

http://tinyurl.com/c6oxdc

--