Baseball Spring Preview: New York Yankees Pitching

The 2008 baseball season looks very promising for the New York Yankees, who are at what many people consider to be a crucial year for the team. With a new hands-on manager taking over in former Yankee Joe Girardi, the Yankees will be a much different looking team. The Red Sox are coming off of their recent World Series win and George Steinbrenner and his sons Hal and Hank have never wanted a championship even more than now. The Yankees seem to be in a championship drought with their last championship coming in 2000 against the San Diego Padres. The success of this year will almost certainly come down to their young pitching staff which will be put to the test

Starting Pitching: Chien Ming Wang, Andy Pettite, Mike Mussina, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy

The Yankees were originally going to have Joba Chamberlain in their rotation as a starting pitcher but they decided to bring Ian Kennedy up to the majors to stay after having some success as a starting pitcher last year in games in the majors. Phil Hughes pitched much of last year in the majors before hurting his arm. He even had a perfect game against Texas before he hurt his arm. Hughes can be spectacular and has drawn comparisons to Roger Clemens and other Cy young pitchers with his power fastball around 95 mph and nasty slider. Ian Kennedy should fit nicely in the number 5 pitcher's slot and he did post the best ERA out of any Yankees stating pitcher in spring training with an ERA lower than 3.

Chien Ming Wang is the unquestionable leader of this staff, although he leads by example, not with his voice. He won 19 games last year, utilizing his splitter to get the ball on the ground and to his infielders. Wang had an ERA of 3.7 last year and while he doesn't strike out many hitters, he puts up victories and is a steady, reliable ace of the staff.

Any Pettite is an interesting story after having a rather interesting off-season. He had contemplated retirement or going to another team but in the end he decided to stick with the Yankees, the team that drafted him and a team which he has won several championships on. Pettite also had to endure the Clemens saga in which Pettite had to testify against Clemens. Pettite himself had to deal with steroid allegations, admitting that he used HGH to heal quicker. Now Pettite looks to prove to people that he was not on steroids and he is still the great pitcher he was the last few seasons. Pettite had 15 wins last season for the Yankees.

Mike Mussina is probably the most questionable starter on this staff and I wouldn't be surprised to see him switched with Joba Chamberlain at the all star break. Mussina struggled mightily in the first half of the season last year and his ERA was awful. Once Mussina's contract expires, his tenure will be all but over with the Yankees who are paying him around $15 million for the season.

Bullpen: LaTroy Hawkins, Mariano rivera, Joba Chamberlain
The bullpen looks to be the best it has been in recent years with the addition of Hawkins who posted a 3.42 ERA last year. Joba Chamberlain will start the season as the 8th inning man for Rivera, a combination that worked wonders last year. Rivera had 30 saves last year. Chamberlain had an amazing season when he was called up in the second half of last year, posting a .75 ERA.

This Yankees will be relying heavily on their starting pitchers next year and look for Hughes to have a big year, if he has fully recovered from last year's arm injury. Hughes looked dominant at times last year and he may be ready to soon become the ace of this Yankees staff. I suspect that Ian kennedy will struggle at times, especially against good hitting teams like the Red Sox, Indians, Angels and Tigers. However, Kennedy should get a solid 10 wins on the season in the 5th pitcher's slot.