Wang's Progress

Chien-Ming Wang went five innings yesterday, k'ed 3, allowed just 4 hits (coulda been 3 if not for a certain third baseman), allowed but 1 run, and got his usual bevy of outs on the ground. To cap it all, he is also the subject of a biography in Chinese produced by several Yankee beat writers, including LoHud's Peter Abraham. Also: Cano homered, Abreu took BP, and Villone got tagged. For the Sox, Matsuzaka pitched with reasonable effectiveness against the Dodgers before their game was called for rain (2 ip, 3k, 3h).

Comments

[SF]

No mention of the wrist and forearm tightness he suffered during his last start?

Doesn't this make him a massive question mark for the entire season?

(sorry, just applying the same logic to Wang that has been applied to several Red Sox players. I don't buy it in either case, for the record.)

[SF]

I am a bit crotchety today. I read that Abreu is still taking his time, that though he might be ready for opening day Torre is not necessarily counting on him. This after I took major cr*p for implying that a strained oblique is a serious and delicate injury and that Yankees fans ought to be concerned about the possibility of re-injury.

Look at Timlin, for that matter.

[YF]

Non-issues, apparently.

[SF]

No, I know, YF. I just am in a bit of a mood. I think of all the people who carp about Daisuke's shoulder issues from 5 years ago and make that a question mark for him.

[YF]

Crotchety! Those obliques are odious. Painful, and they take forever to heal. Hope it doesn't recur. You didn't take any crap from this YF. But what can we do? At least we've got Melky in the wings. And Bronson Sardinha's hitting .345 this spring, Kevin Reese is at .375, and Kevin Thompson is at .391. Those numbers obviously reflect what they'd do given a full year in the majors. So YFs need not worry: we've got 3 batting chaps-in-waiting down on the farm, and that's not even counting Jose "MiniManny" Tabata.....

[SF]

"batting chaps". How very British!

[Nick-YF]

speaking of British/American uses of language:

Do you say "chomping at the bit" or "champing at the bit"? YF, I ask because you're an editor and my old publishing boss (crazy nut) screamed at me for using the former expression.

[SF]

I say "champing", so you know. But I am not a writer.

[K]

Yea, it definately looks good that we got the next Manny. Sardinha is nice and I wouldnt mind seeing a mix of him and Minky while Abreu rests up. Both can clearly play.

[Andrew]

I use chomping, because what does champing mean?

[YF]

That's one for the OED. I'd use chomping, i think it's standard at this point, but i don't know horse-lingo so it might be a bit of a misnomer.

[SF]

Colloquialisms
Champing at the bit
If someone is eager or anxious to do something, they are said to be champing at the bit, (not chomping at the bit. nor chomping on the bit).
CHAMPING: Repetitious, strong opening and closing action of the mouth which
produces sounds when the teeth hit together. Champing in swine may be a
threat signal, but also is performed by boars during courtship and
mating. Definition from Hurnik et al., 1995.

- The Encyclopedia of Farm Animal Behavior <http://www.liru.asft.ttu.edu/EFAB/letter.asp?Letter=C>

champ
v. tr. - To bite or chew upon noisily.
v. intr. - To work the jaws and teeth vigorously.
Idiom: - champ at the bit
To show impatience at being held back or delayed.

- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

[Nick-YF]

about the post. I'm really intrigued by what Wang is going to do this year. I wonder if his strike-out rate will increase meaningfully. He's well aware about his extremely low rate (or at least his coaches are), and I'm wondering if he'll be more aggressive about getting a k.

[Paul SF]

I use chomping, not that anyone cares. Frankly, I wouldn't use it in whatever I write because we're taught to stay away from cliches.

Matsuzaka also drew a walk despite the complete non-secret that he was not going to swing at a single pitch. Pretty funny. I wonder how/if ranouts affect a pitcher's progress in continually ramping up the number of pitches/innings he throws. I guess he could always go inside and throw another 30-40 pitches against the wall if he really needed them.

[john]

Abreu says he took full swings yesterday and felt no twinges in the oblique. Can the Sox players say similarly reassuring things? Let's compare apples and oranges.