So, we saw a number of posts last night about McHugh not being a number 2 guy. Over the past two years, Mchugh is 30-16 with a 3.39 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. In addition, his WAR was been 3.1 (2014) and 4.2 last year. His 2014 WHIP was 3rd (THIRD) in the AL, but he was 7 innings short of officially qualifying. Those overall numbers are top 10-15 over the past 2 seasons. He may not be flashy, but statistically and results-wise he could be considered a number 2 starter.
Seems like even the best pitchers have at least 1 of these games every season. Hopefully McHugh got his out of the way early. He'll be fine. I'm guessing he didn't get a good enough warmup in and the cold just made it snowball. Keuchel said he couldn't really get a good feel for the ball on Tuesday and that was a day game. I have no qualms with him being our #2. Feliz having to come in on a very cold night quickly didn't help him much either. It was just one of those games.
Consistency is important as well along with somebody's perceived floor. Nobody doubts his ceiling his pretty damn good when things are going well... but he also is prone to the occasional disaster start, which we've seen a handful of over the last 3 years (last night included). He's had a career long battle with trusting certain pitches/stuff that has seen his career yo-yo to almost being out of baseball altogether. Also, you gotta sometimes tip your hat to the other team. The Yankees continue to do a great job of laying off border-line pitches, and fouling off enough quality ones to remain alive in AB's. Keuchel had to make an adjustment to find more of the plate on Tuesday... which almost suckered the Yankees to abandon their patient approach, and by the 7th they were swinging at the same pitches they were laying off over the first 2-3 innings.
There you go... basically the only player acquired/purchased by the Yankees that ever worked out better than expected. Seriously, though... their best free agent pickup (in terms of WAR and results) was Mike Mussina, hardly one of the greatest Yankees of all time, but that's about the best return on any investment they've made. Their front office acknowledges that they gotta start developing and getting some prime/cheap years of player from their system. Even a talent as amazing as Correa will probably have fewer tremendous seasons after 30 than he does before it.
They always say cold games favor the pitchers, but so far in this series 3 of the 4 starters struggled to locate early in the game. Keuchel and Pineda got knocked around before settling in, McHugh got ran. Regardless of the reason, terrible start was terrible. It's just one start, but sure would like to see McHugh be more consistent this year. And Carlos Correa Spoiler
Last year he had 5 starts (out of 32, i.e. 15%) in which he went < 6 IP *and* gave up > 3 ER. That's what I would call a really bad start and something to avoid. Those looked like this: 4.2 IP, 7 ER 3 IP, 8 ER 5 IP, 5 ER 5.1 IP, 5 ER 3.2 IP, 5 ER Going forward, I would like that number/percentage to go down, certainly. However, it's important to note that in 2014, he only had 2 out of 25 starts in that category = 8%. This isn't a trend yet. (Though his 1st inning faltering certainly is--he just often works out of it. That is something I hope he can improve.) I was trying to think of a good comp, and I realized it's hard to think of a "good #2 starter". Some teams have multiple aces (I wouldn't count a guy like Strasburg as a #2), and some have what the Astros have. To me, Justin Verlander in his current form fits the bill. He ended last year with a 3.38 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. And Verlander had 3 such starts out of 20, or 15%.. In short, I continue to think this McHugh issue has been overblown (just like it was last year, and just like Gregerson was last year in a different way). McHugh's not an ace and never will be, but as some have said on this page, he actually does fit as a decent #2 in many ways--and esp. as a 2B or 3rd best guy once McCullers is back. edit: someone else I looked into that might seem like a #2 comp was Gio Gonzalez, though he's technically the 3rd best pitcher over there. He was at 29% last year and 15% in 2014, which was more like a #2 year for him.
Just looking at the weather, I'm guessing the start either gets delayed to 6 or 7 pm local time. Appears as if it should pass by sometime between 5 and 6.
I remember the awful start against Seattle. And then he had another against Toronto, that he ended up settling down and pitching a few more innings. At this point, I feel McHugh is likely who he is. Not much more upside in terms of stuff (other than consistency), but still a good enough pitcher to give you 200+ innings and will win enough games for you to remain in the rotation. The Verlander comparison is adequate... although he was once a cy young/MVP candidate who is now regressing/adjusting as he gets older.
And the Yankees have a 1:00 start in Detroit tomorrow, whereas the Astros have a 7pm game in Milwaukee... so the later start is likely to affect them more than us (but really shouldn't be a huge deal either way... this game probably could have been scheduled as a 7pm start regardless).
When you scout high-school age kids, the family is such a big part of that process - and that can deepen the longer-term relationship. Correa is very close to his family, and I would wager the Astros have diligently worked that family angle. Remember, the Astros are the team that made all of his parents' sacrifices meaningful, including his dad working three jobs. And they're the team that is going to make it possible for his dad to retire, if they haven't already. At the end of the day, money talks - but the Astros have something no other team can offer Carlos, and I have to think that'll be a vital bargaining chip down the road.
Games like last night happens. Yankees have a very good lineup and our pitching just did not handle the cold as good as the Yankees pitches. I'm looking forward to the rubber game today.
yeah I just looked it up. Neshek did pitch yesterday so its Harris, Giles, Gregerson today..and Sipp and Neshek pitched 1 inning a piece so maybe they can come in if needed.
How quickly people forget what we did to King Felix last season, or what happened to Grienke on opening day.
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/roster/HOU/houston-astros Does CBS know something we dont? Spoiler Tyler White is a relief pitcher???
especially Gomez. He was brought in to be an All Star and produce. Castro will be a hole in the lineup all season...
Seeing images of the snow on the ground in NY....crazy. Opening day should have started in Houston. North east teams should have had to open on the road farther south like the Astros have back to back series on the road.... How unusual is this cold spell / winter weather for NY for this time of year? Every couple of years? once in a decade? Every year?
