The Igawa Project

Kei Igawa has been coined as a failure in the minds of most Yankee fans, but players with several years left on the contracts seldom fade into the dark. The lefthander will not likely make the rotation this spring, but a bullpen spot is a possibility. He's the only southpaw other than Sean Henn who will even have a chance at the majors this year, and the Yanks are hoping he can forget his lousy 2007 campaign and move forward.

Igawa's a very unusual guy. He partakes in a heavy pre-game routine which includes a heavy dose of running. I don't really see it. Supposedly, for sinkerball pitchers, some fatigue can actually make them more effective, but Igawa seems to like throwing his pitches in the upper half of the zone, so it clearly isn't doing it for him. Perhaps under the guidance of a new pitching coach, Dave Eiland, the former Sawamura winner will be able to take form.

Igawa's splits are incredibly useless - he is nearly identical in each comparison. Did he fare best at home or on the road? Well, looking at his home ERA of 6.54 and his road ERA of 5.76, it's tough to see which. There isn't much there. Even more amazing was his lefty/righty line - a 6.23 ERA vs. a 6.26. Wow, we should ask him how he did it.

His biggest problems are walks and home runs. Other than that, which is kind of a big deal, he was good. His main stat line showcases a nice K/9 ratio of 7.05. To me, this is the biggest indication that he does have a chance to be a good reliever. After all, his best performance of year, which came against the Red Sox, was in relief.