Written by Greg Fertel | 05 July 2009

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As you all know, Chien-Ming Wang went down with a shoulder strain yesterday and its being said that he will miss about a month. The Yankees have the luxury of having a few different options to use as their fifth starter.

1.     Phil Hughes

Hughes is an interesting option to fill the fifth starter roll and the debate is raging amongst Yankee fans on what to do with him. There are a few things at play when discussing returning Hughes to the rotation. Hughes needs innings. It seems like he has been around forever but he is still just 23 years old. While Hughes has been a marvel out of the bullpen, I think people are forgetting that he was pitching well in the rotation before moving to the pen, which was why the Yankees couldn't afford to send him down. In his four starts before shifting to a reliever, he struck out 23 in 23 innings while only walking 7, and had an ERA of 3.91.  One issue I have with Hughes returning to the rotation is bouncing him around too much. If the Yankees really think Wang will be back within a month, is it worth it to stretch Hughes out just to put him back in the bullpen?

2.    Alfredo Aceves

Aceves has proven to be a great pickup for the Yankees. It's amazing that they just picked him up for free from a Mexican league. He was successful as a spot starter for the Yanks last year, but his K:BB was a weak 16:10 in 30 innings. Since being called up, Aceves has worked exclusively from the pen and has been great. His K:BB is a much improved 29:7 in 36 innings. Aceves is 27 and doesn't have the upside that Hughes has; he pretty much is what he is at this point. Aceves is a back-end starter or good reliever. If the Yankees want to be conservative, Aceves is not a bad option at all to start a few games.

3.     Sergio Mitre

 

Cashman signed Mitre to a 2-year deal coming off an injury to have extra starter depth. It never hurts to have starting pitching depth. Mitre has been great in AAA since coming back from injury. He has thrown 30.1 innings and has struck out 23 while only walking 3 batters. Mitre has been a serviceable swingman in his career, but his career FIP is a pedestrian 4.62, and that was all in the NL. That is fine for a 5^th starter, but if you have better options, you should use them. Mitre is also not on the 40-man roster, but the Yankees can open up a spot by transferring Xavier Nady to the 60-day DL.

I think that these are the three guys who should be considered, but I've seen other names mentioned as possibilities. I've heard some say Ivan Nova or Zach McAllister should be called up for the start but I don't think that's a good idea. For one, neither is on the 40-man roster and don't need to be added yet. Also, Nova has one career AAA start and McAllister is still in AA. These guys are not developed yet and should continue to get starts in the minors.

Phil Hughes is the guy who should be taking these starts, but only under certain conditions. I don't want to see Hughes make 4 starts, pitch well, and then go back in to the bullpen. If Hughes continues to pitch well out of the rotation, I think you have to stick with him over Chien-Ming Wang. While Wang has improved from his dreadful start of the season, his ERA since moving back into the rotation is 6.43, which is still unacceptable. If the Yankees are not open to keeping Wang out of the rotation when he returns, I think it would be best to use Aceves. It's time to give Hughes a chance to earn a starting job. At this point, I don't think Wang should be guaranteed a rotation spot when Hughes has outpitched him all season long. It is easy to fall in love with Hughes in the bullpen since he's been so dominant, but a good starting pitcher will almost always be dominant out of the pen.

What do you think? Who would you use as the temporary fifth starter?

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