"Igawa's start a 'question mark'...Lefty unable to make progress from previous outing" -- July 5, 2007

By Caleb Breakey/MLB.com


NEW YORK -- Kei Igawa's courtship with Yankees fans took another turn on Thursday.
The $20 million dollar man -- not including the $26 million the Yankees paid for the rights to negotiate with him -- slipped in his season-long attempt to solidify himself as a Major League starter. Igawa's numbers, so far, show he isn't there yet: 2-2 with a 7.14 ERA in eight games.

Thursday's start at Yankee Stadium didn't help matters, either -- "A question mark," according to manager Joe Torre. In other words, Igawa didn't make progress. He couldn't control his fastball. Fans booed. He slipped a notch, allowing five runs in five innings against the Twins.

The worst of it came in the fifth. Jeff Cirillo led off with a ground-rule double. Two outs later, Igawa walked No. 9 hitter Nick Punto. That's when the Twins started roughing up the left-hander.

"Again, his command was not where he wanted it to be," Torre said. "He got himself in trouble by walking the ninth hitter, and then all of a sudden, bad things seemed to happen."

Jason Bartlett doubled to left field, and Joe Mauer followed with a single. Three runs scored. And not only that, but the inning carried on because Igawa started pacing around the mound, taking time between each batter.

Igawa said slowing the game down helped him settle down and prevent a fourth run from scoring. He knew, however, that three runs or four runs didn't matter: too many of his pitches missed their marks -- it was a lost inning.

"I didn't do well at all," Igawa said through an interpreter. "I don't know when my next start is, but I definitely want to look at the videos and do well in my next start."

The long periods between pitches could have had worse effects. When pitchers pace, stand or just stare off into space, the infielders can get restless.

"You like to get an up tempo for the fielders to stay on the balls of their feet," Torre said. "And he does slow things down to where people may flatten out out there."

Torre did note, however, that his lefty may have been trying to mentally piece together his newly-learned mechanics.

Still, the less-than-stellar location, the clock-burning and the end result all built to a question mark: Is this the real Igawa, or is there still untapped potential waiting in his pitching arm? It is an arm the Yankees own the rights to for another five seasons.

Track the progress: First, the team sent him to the Minor Leagues after surrendering 26 earned runs in 30 2/3 innings. While pitching for Class A Tampa and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Yankees said Igawa's changeup and control sharpened, so they put him back in pinstripes in San Francisco.

There, he brought a stick -- a low-tech wooden device that he uses in between innings to remind him of his mechanics: a change recommended by Gil Patterson, the Yankees' Tampa, Fla.-based pitching coordinator.

Igawa pitched well for four innings, but the Giants knocked him out in the fifth.

Pitching at home against Oakland in his next start, Igawa allowed four runs in 6 1/3 innings to the Athletics -- a step forward, according to Torre.

But on Thursday, the report card didn't look promising.

Igawa's next scheduled start would come after the All-Star break. The results may prompt the Yankees' next move.