Stupid Name, Stupid Writer

Apparently, Filip Bondy of the NY Daily News has unearthed some new evidence about two of the Yankees current starters who just happen to be two of their top prospects: The organization is worried about both of their out pitches.

I refer to this article in today's Daily News, where Filip unearths the fact that the Yankees are worried sick. No, not about the fact that they've been forced to rely on neophytes Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain so heavily in this year's pennant race. Their worries instead are with "Hughes' slow curve", and "Kennedy getting away with a lot of change-ups." And of course, in true b.s. NY tabloid nature, Mr. Bondy wants to see the Yankees maximizing Joba's usage, so when Joba goes in for Tommy John surgery in the middle of the 2008 season he can go back to one of his Bill Pulsipher/Jason Isringhausen/Paul Wilson stories from the 90's and just change the names around a bit to make it work and save him some stress near a deadline.

In all seriousness, though, just where the hell did this nugget of a scouting report emerge from? Did Brian Cashman, quoted here on page 2 of this story in the Post, near a Stadium elevator no less, gushingly referring to Mr. Wonder-Phil was "awesome", sour on his organization's best pitching prospect? Did Ian Kennedy, in his solid first start against the D-Rays, just get by with a mediocre big league change-up?

Pitching Guru Filip Bondy apparently thinks so. Of course, he saw no need to flip through a scouting report of either Ian Kennedy or Phil Hughes, or else he would have figured out this fun fact: Kennedy's change-up is his #1 out-pitch, and Phil...ditto with the hook, my friend. Fans shouldn't have too much trouble identifying that fact with Phil, since they've been able to watch a fair amount of him by now. But to suddenly claim that the pitch that propelled him through the minors worries the team that brought him up early in the year while he was still 20 years old in order to solidify the starting rotation, is now a problem? Idiotic.

Kennedy's case, at least Filip can use the excuse of unfamiliarity, since I doubt he spends any time reading anything about prospects or watching prospects or even using the word "prospect" in a coherent sentence. But, like I've already said, all you've got to do is a little research. According to this scouting report I found (via Pending Pinstripes), "His best secondary pitch is the changeup, a plus offering that he particularly outstanding command of."

So, of course, he got away with his best pitch in his first start in the majors. That's usually how it works, you know, logically, in the baseball world.

I'm not trying to attain lieutenant status in The Official Ian Kennedy Fan Club, I'm just looking for some due diligence from some sort of featured sports columnist at the Daily News. Kennedy has not been as highly touted as Joba and Phil because he doesn't project as a high-end, #1 or #2 starter as those fellows do due to their dominating pitches. Joba's dominating pitches are apparent to any idiot who watches baseball (i.e. Filip Bondy of the NY Daily News), thanks to the flashy radar gun numbers that get the Stadium oohing and aahing in his every appearance. Phil's dominating pitch apparently is Suspect #1 in the Yankees universe. And Ian Kennedy, forget about him actually having an effective pitch. He just got away with the soft stuff; he couldn't possibly be a right-handed control/soft-stuff pitcher, could he? Why would the Yankees have any of those kinds of guys when they could all be like Joba?

A maddening bit of scouting from Baseball America's next head writer, Filip Bondy. A stupid name for a stupid baseball writer.