Like many of y'all, Hughsie and I-Ken have been
on my mind a lot lately. Their underwhelming performances to start the year are troubling, but even with a 8+ ERA between the two of them I still can't bring myself to get all worked up about it. Perhaps I'm being too forgiving, because I love these dudes and have been looking forward to their contributions to the team, but I am holding out hope that they'll both turn things around in due time.
If you're unsure or already counting them out, I implore you to take a gander at this here listy and reconsider that position...
Top Ten Reasons Not to Stress About Hughsie and IPK
10) The Yanks are obviously super-impressed by them, especially I-Ken. You don't put a 23-year-old pitcher off limits when making a bid for the best pitcher in the game unless you are pretty damn sure he's going to be something good.
9) Could YOU pitch in front of 50,000 demanding fans at age 21?
8) Plenty of starters - young and old - have rough Aprils, and we don't spazz about most of them.
7) Young pitchers are more likely to be coached out of the trouble - they are less stuck in their ways and bad habits.
6) Continuing with #7, there is no reason to believe that they wouldn't be eager learners and receptive to coaching. They are good kids with good attitudes - they
want to succeed and will work heard to get there.
5) Remember last year?
4) Despite their records and scary ERA's, the scouting reports really aren't that disheartening. Their problem is just that they aren't locating yet; they haven't lost velocity.
3) Girardi doesn't seem too concerned...
2) ... And neither do they. Confidence in your abilities speaks volumes.
1) They're 21 and 23. Calm down.
Read last week's Top Ten: Random and Newbie Performances
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But Hughes HAS lost velocity. When he was in the minors and most notably playing at the Futures game he was sitting at 94-95. His arm angles and leg motion have changed.