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February 18, 2007

Yanks, Media & Me Agree: "Key" Igawa

Didn't I just say this three weeks ago?

From George King's blog -

Ron Guidry is optimistic by nature. And even the most pessimistic coach views things through rose-tinted glasses at this time of the year.

Yet, Guidry’s actions Saturday in the Legends Field bullpen insured Yankee fans biggest worries are legitimate. While Mike Mussina, Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte worked their way through a 45-pitch effort that included curveballs for the first time, Guidry’s eyes were trained on Kei Igawa and Carl Pavano.

Anybody who has been paying attention knows they are the question marks of a questionable rotation that can’t be expected to be aided by Phil Hughes just yet.

“I spend more time looking at Igawa and Pavano,’’ Guidry said.

While Hughes is the key to the Yankees future _ he has to be more like Pettitte than Ryan Bradley _ Igawa and Pavano hold the key to this season. Healthy and productive they provide back-of-the-rotation stability. Unproductive and say hello to Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner. They are perfect in their insurance roles but who knows what they would do when counted on regularly.

At least, from what Peter Abraham reports today, it sounds like Igawa has a good head on his shoulders. Let's just hope that Igawa defies what 11,398 Japanese people think.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at February 18, 2007 09:33 AM

Comments

I'm rooting for the guy. He seems like a decent, likeable kid; and if he can give 190 league average innings, the Yankees will have gotten themselves a steal.

Posted by: brockdc [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 18, 2007 03:19 PM

He seems like a decent, likeable kid
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If he's anything like that list that's floating around, the guy's a major league nut. And I mean that in a good way :)

Posted by: Raf [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 19, 2007 12:00 PM