KURODA GRABBED THE TORCH & LEADS THE CHARGE

Hiroki Kuroda continues to surprise me. I admit, when the Yankees signed him during the off season, I wasn’t really convinced that this was a good move. I wasn’t opposed to the signing, but there is just something about taking a National League pitcher and putting him in pinstripes that just gives me nightmares. I was indifferent, but now I don’t want to imagine this team without him. Kuroda has taken the mound, pitched effectively, and continues to help lead the team toward October baseball.

It’s been a long season for the Yankees, and when the top of your rotation goes down with injuries someone has to step up and deliver the same results. This season we have lost CC twice, Andy Pettitte has been out since June and Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes have had their struggles….but Kuroda has been steady and consistent. It doesn’t matter which game you watch when Kuroda pitches, the image is always the same. He always looks poised out there, he is focused and he doesn’t crack under pressure. Kuroda understands what it takes to succeed in the Bronx, and I really think he has that Yankee team-winning attitude. Even when Kuroda pitches a great game and talks about it with the press he never focuses on himself, he always reverts back to the team. In a way, his attitude reminds me of how Derek Jeter talks to the press because it is always team first before the personal accolades. He looks and sounds like a leader.

As successful as Kuroda was in the National League, his numbers in a more offensive league have not changed much when compared to last year and that isn’t something that all pitchers can say when they move to the American League.  What’s the secret? Chemistry. Kuroda has a history with Russell Martin and sometimes when you change scenery you struggle to adapt, but Martin knows Kuroda’s strengths and his pitching style and even though they were apart last year, it doesn’t look like anything has changed. This season, he has an 11-8 record with a 3.06 ERA, 6.85 Ks and 2.15 walks per nine innings, which are very similar statistics to what he did with the Dodgers in 2011 (13-16, 3.07 ERA, 7Ks, and 2.18 walks per nine innings). I really don’t think these numbers are a coincidence, those two just know how to take control of a game and work well together

Joe Girardi got it right when he said that Kuroda had “Probably our best pitching performance of the year,” because he was that good (Read HERE.) Kuroda dominated a very dangerous Texas lineup, the one team who has managed to score more runs than the Yankees so far this season. The Rangers have it all, the power, the speed, and those reliable hitters that just know how to drive in runs…. except during this particular game. Kuroda had a no hitter through six innings until Elvis Andrus had a lead-off single to start off the seventh inning. The only Ranger that wasn’t completely fooled by his pitches was Josh Hamilton. It was like watching the same at bat over and over again because no one was getting a good swing on Kuroda’s pitches. As good as this game was for Kuroda, it’s not his only game worth noting; in his last six starts he has a 1.44 ERA and that is exactly what the Yankees need until Andy and CC come back.

The Yankees thrive in the second half, and so has Kuroda. Unlike early in the season, now I really see Kuroda helping this team succeed in the postseason. While some teams have struggled with their injuries, the Yankees have adapted and still manage to win. You find out just how good a team is when you are forced to make major changes, and who the real leaders are when they rise to the occasion and succeed. Kuroda has risen to the occasion and stepped into a leadership role, and he continues to be everything this team needs. I’m sorry I ever doubted you, Kuroda.

--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Writer and Editor

Twitter: @NyPrincessJ


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