Wang’s health key for Yankees
BALTIMORE – Nearly 10 months have passed since Chien-Ming Wang’s last official outing for the New York Yankees.
Wang tore the Lisfranc ligament in his right foot while running the bases against the Houston Astros on June 15, ending his season. Despite the long layoff, his spring training nearly passed for normal as he progressed at the same pace as the other Yankees starters.
But Wang knows better than anybody just how long he has been sidelined.
“It feels like five years,” he said Monday.
Wang will start tonight against the Baltimore Orioles. Not only will the Yankees be hoping Wang looks like the successful sinkerball pitcher they know so well, but he also will be trying to turn the page on a miserable opening day. After the 10-5 loss Monday to the Orioles, a strong start and a win would help wipe away the bad taste of CC Sabathia’s clunker.
The Yankees badly need a healthy Wang, even with the upgraded rotation that includes Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Wang won 19 games in 2006 and 2007.
“That’s a lot of games from a starter,” manager Joe Girardi said. “He was one of the innings guys as well, and we didn’t have that (once he got hurt). He was a big loss last year.”
Even though Wang missed more than half of last season, he still tied for eighth among major league pitchers with 46 wins from 2006-2008, matching Mike Mussina, Roy Oswalt and Justin Verlander. Wang’s .754 percentage led all qualifiers, and no one else topped .700.
Wang views himself as one piece of the rotation, nothing more.
“We have five starting pitchers trying to win games every day,” he said. “This is a good team, good infield, good pitching.”
“We have a five-man rotation with a good chance to win every night, and that’s the way we want it,” Jorge Posada said. “Whoever is on the mound, we have a pretty good chance to keep the opposition down.”
That didn’t happen Monday, with a rare poor start from new ace Sabathia.
Wang was 8-2 with a 4.07 ERA last season. Even so, he went from being the Yankees’ ace to their third-best starter after the offseason signings of Sabathia and Burnett. Wang is starting second in the rotation to break up power pitchers Sabathia and Burnett, as well as lefties Sabathia and Andy Pettitte.
During spring training, Wang, 29, appeared strong and posted a 4.15 ERA in six starts. He said he feels “almost normal.” As a precaution, he is still not doing a lot of running, but his arm feels 100 percent, he said.
“I’ve been happy with what I’ve seen from him, whether it’s been pitching or physically,” Girardi said. “I have a good feeling about his season.”
Girardi said he was less concerned about Wang than about the others returning from surgeries: Posada, Hideki Matsui and Mariano Rivera. Girardi’s confidence stems from the nature of Wang’s surgery and the fact his rehab was much further along when spring training began.
Compared to the other starters, Wang flies under the radar. He doesn’t have the outsized personality of Joba Chamberlain, the long Yankees history of Pettitte or the newness factor of Sabathia and Burnett. But the Yankees need him just as much.
That starts tonight.