The Little Three

Bradenton Florida

With great fanfare, last Spring the Yankees unveiled the new Big Three.  Philip Huges, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy were presented as the future of the franchise, the men who would restore Yankee greatness.

Well, it’s a year later, and the Big Three now look like the Little Three.  On Saturday, your intrepid reporters had the displeasure of seeing first hand the progress two of the Big Three have made.

Philip Hughes started the game.  Someone called Yimier Morgan hit his second pitch 400 feet over the right field fence.  The home run was especially depressing since Morgan appeared to weigh about 110 pounds soaking wet.

Two batters later, Ryan Doumit parked another Hughes pitch 400 feet over the right field fence.  The two balls sat next to each other in the little league field behind the stadium.

Both pitches were high fastballs directly over the plate.  Hughes was not blowing anyone away with his vaunted velocity.

Hughes got through the second and third innings unscathed, but was in continuous trouble.  He was releasing his curve ball too early, and his fast ball was not getting past the hitters.  He gave no evidence of being the second coming of Walter Johnson.  A trip to Scranton appears inevitable.

After Jonathan Albaladejo pitched a scoreless fourth, Ian Kennedy took the mound.  Kenndy struggled through three innings, but managed to hold the pirates scoreless.  He was no more impressive than Hughes.  Scranton awaits.

It’s still only mid-March, and neither Hughes nor Kennedy ever figured to be in the starting rotation this year.  But at this point, Hughes looks to be no more than a number 3 starter, and Kennedy appears to be back end of the rotation material.  Don’t be surprised if Kennedy is packaged with other players and sent to the National League for offensive help.

Meanwhile, Melky Cabrera continued his aggressive pursuit of the starting CF position at Scranton.  The Melk Man went 0 for 4 before bouncing a single through a drawn in infield against one of the Pirates’ many minor league pitchers.

Finally, we can report that the Bradenton facility offers a fine pulled pork sandwich.  It’s not up to South Philly standards, but for ball park food, it was quite acceptable.

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