New York Yankees Pitching Line-Up

In 2008 the Yankees gave both Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy the chance to pitch in their rotation. Hughes was given 8 starts and Kennedy was given 9 starts. Both pitched terribly and were sent down to the minors. Do Hughes and Kennedy have what it takes to pitch successfully in the major leagues? Looking at their minor league pitching stats the answer is absolutely yes. Hughes and Kennedy both have excellent minor league stats that indicate without any doubt they can pitch successfully at the major league level.

Phil Hughes in 59 minor league starts and 310.2 innings pitched his record is 16-2 with a 2.40 ERA, a .92 WHIP, 348 strikeouts and 77 walks.

So Hughes has a minor league K rate of 10.1 and BB rate of 2.2. That’s good for a 4.5 K to BB ratio. Tremendous stats that clearly indicate Hughes can pitch at the major league level. And in fact he did pitch with some success for the Yankees in 2007 when he went 5-3 with a 4.46 ERA, 7.2 K rate and 3.6 BB rate. A 2 to 1 K to BB ratio. Really all Hughes needs is the chance and patience all young pitchers need but the Yankees are always in a Win Now mode and whether he gets the chance in 2009 remains to be seen. But he clearly has the talent to be a successful major league pitcher.

Ian Kennedy his minor league stats are just about as good as Hughes. In 39 starts Kennedy has gone 18-6 with 1.99 ERA and .97 WHIP. In 226.1 innings he has 248 K’s and 70 BB’s. So his K rate is 9.9 and his BB rate is 2.8 for a K to BB ratio of 3.5. That is what is known as a Top Pitching Prospect.

In 12 career major league starts though Kennedy has gone just 1-4 with a 6.14 ERA and a WHIP of 1.67. But like Hughes all Kennedy really needs is the chance and patience because his minor league stats are great. With the Yankees in 2008 Kennedy was known as an overconfident and brash player and he clearly did not live up to that attitude. But most talented players do struggle at first in the majors.

Coming into the 2009 baseball season the Yankees have four guaranteed starters in Chien-Ming Wang and the super talented Joba Chamberlain plus free agent acquisitions C. C. Sabathia and A. J. Burnett. It looks like Andy Pettitte has turned down the Yankees $10 million dollar offer as an insult since he made 16 million in 2008 but Pettitte did not earn any raise off last seasons effort. So unless the Yankees sign another free agent pitcher like Ben Sheets they still have one open starting pitching slot and if they are patient either Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy can easily fill that slot for them in the 2009 season based upon their stellar minor league stats.