VOTE DAVID PHELPS FOR STARTING PITCHER

With the World Series over and Election Day just about four days away, I’m all worked up for spring.  Maybe I just feel less claustrophobic now that I don’t have beards smothering me each time I open up Twitter or flip on MLB Network.  I am so glad that is over.  Anyway, when I think of spring I think of baseball and prepping for the 2014 season at Spring Training in Tampa, FL.  I’m a little ahead of myself but I can’t help it.  My first priority is pitching and I would like to vote for David Phelps to be our third starter in the Yankee rotation next year.

I have heard Bronson Arroyo’s name being kicked around a bit.  I am not against his submission.  I actually like him a lot.  He has heart.  He was willing to give his father one of his kidneys a few years back.  And I like him because the Red Sox gave him up many years ago- that makes me like him even more.  So, Bronson can be the second or fourth starter, but the third spot has got to be Phelps. 

In 2013, I felt like the Yankees did not give Phelps a break.  Every time he got a chance to be great, he either was mediocre due mainly to no offense or he was gingerly taken out of the game just a little too early.  I get the whole pitch count thing and saving the arm and being careful.  Certainly, we don’t need a Matt Harvey or a Stephen Strasburg situation, but I almost think the Yankees are too cautious with Phelps.

I am not saying that David Phelps is a Michael Wacha, but I am saying why not see if he could be. “With Wacha only one full season removed from college, one question persists, and it has been asked over and over in every media that concerns sports: "How did 18 guys get drafted in front of Michael Wacha,” stated an ESPN blog post early this week.   That’s right 18 guys and the Cards who the article boasts as “probably the best franchise in baseball when it comes to developing players, and Wacha won't be the last pitcher they draft who will outperform his expectations,” are getting a big return on their investment in the young 22-year-old.   Are the Yankees limiting Phelps or underestimating his true worth and value to the team?  I say yes.  I also say that we need some more help in pitcher development department because Larry Rothchild, in my opinion, is just not cutting it.  I know he is up for a contract extension but maybe we should look a little deeper here.

CC’s velocity is not what it was, Ivan Nova is inconsistent and Kuroda seemed to lose his luster toward the end of the summer.  We need more and I think Larry needs more help or needs to walk. 

So I cast my vote for the Fighting Irish’s own David Phelps.  With the right guidance in pitcher development, he can be a Michael Wacha or a Matt Harvey.  We just have to let him do what he is bred to do and give him a real chance to succeed.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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