The Yankees Best Rotation in 2010 Includes Aceves
By Mike Silva ~ March 8th, 2010. Filed under: Mike Silva, New York Yankees.
If you were looking to fill a hole in your rotation and gave you this scouting report would you be interested in the pitcher?
PITCHES: Throws fastball 90-92mph (47% of all pitches), cutter 87-90 (14%), curveball 77-82 (20%), changeup 80-85 (19%). FB is most effective, cutter least effective. 1,232 total pitches (62% in the strike zone). Threw 199 of 318 first pitches for strikes (63%).
Strengths: Great command of CB. Great command of CH. Great command of cutter. Great overall dominance with 4.31 K/BB. Induces pop-ups often. Rarely walks batters – 0.19 BB/IP (0.39 is avg).
This is a pitcher that throws strikes, misses bats and has great command of four pitches. Sounds like the perfect member of the Yankees starting rotation. Well, this individual currently is fighting it out with four others for the fifth spot – it’s Alfredo Aceves.
Brian Cashman said the best Yankees team in 2010 would have Joba and Phil Hughes in the bullpen. Since we really haven’t seen Hughes given the chance to start a full season I suggest the best Yankees staff has Aceves in the fifth hole, Joba in the pen (permanently) and Hughes honing his craft in AAA. Chad Gaudin and Sergio Mitre could battle it out for the long spot in the bullpen vacated by Aceves.
Aceves is often an unsung hero of the 2009 Yankees. He often would come in and keep the Yankees in the game, hence his 10 victories, especially when the fourth or fifth starters faltered. How else do you explain a team winning 103 games despite the back half of their rotation average less than 5 innings a start?
Fans are enamored with Chamberlain, but Aceves in the rotation is gaining a bit of steam in the blogosphere (for what it’s worth). Steve S. over at TYU is one of the first to support someone other than Hughes or Joba in the fifth spot. Many fans forget that Aceves had an ERA+ of 185 while as a starter late in the 2008 season. This is no kid either, as he learned how to pitch in the Mexican League before the Yankees signed him.
One of the pitfalls of a boring camp is that stories get beaten to death (the fifth spot might already qualify), but my early vote is Aceves to rotation, Hughes to AAA, and Joba as a setup man to Rivera.
Hear more about this and other Yankees talk during my Sunday Grapefruit Roundup.
March 8th, 2010 at 10:56 am
Interesting point, Mike. I guess one question I would have is could Aceves hold up the grind for an entire year. He seemed to fatigue a little bit in the dog days of August before Girardi rested him a little bit, and then he picked it up in September. If he could, I’d say sure go for this plan.
March 8th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Thanks for the link Mike, much appreciated.
Long story short, I think it’s the best use of their resources and doesn’t hold back Phil or Joba from starting next year.