A pair of rookie right-handers, both first-round picks in recent amateur drafts, both Scott Boras clients, will take the mound Saturday for the two New York teams. The Yankees and Mets, who for many years preferred the company of veterans, will look to Ian Kennedy and Mike Pelfrey, respectively, to deliver in important outings _ at home against Tampa Bay for Kennedy, and at Atlanta for Pelfrey.
Kennedy (pictured here in his USC jersey) owns more buzz now, because Saturday will mark his major-league debut and because he is replacing a stunningly inept Mike Mussina. But if the events of the past three days continue, on both sides of the East River, then it's Pelfrey who could be facing more pressure.
When the Yankees drafted Kennedy with their first pick last year, a scout from another team described the right-hander as "a very poor man's Mike Mussina." Ironic, eh? Kennedy, as you've probably heard _ and as he himself said, in a Wednesday interview with Newsday's enterprising, tech-savvy Jim Baumbach _ is a "command guy." He doesn't light up the radar gun like his fellow young pinstriper Joba Chamberlain, or even Phil Hughes, but he seems to know what he's doing out there, with a fastball that hits about 90 mph, a curveball and a changeup. A second scout, with whom I spoke this past week, spoke admiringly of Kennedy and his ability to run a game.
The Mets' 2005 first-round pick Pelfrey, you already know about, and his minor-league numbers are only so-so, after his 0-7, 5.92 showing with the Mets. He received attention for his first-inning ineptitude, yet if you look at his statistical breakdown, you'll see that his worst stretch this year came not in pitches 1 through 15, but pitches 45 through 60. So Pelfrey simply has to improve his all-around effort from his earlier outings. We'll see.
This has been a banner year for the Yankees' farm system, what with the contributions from Chamberlain, Hughes and the unlikely Shelley Duncan _ and even Tyler Clippard contributed a couple of good outings, in a season when they have needed every single victory. You can rip Yankees general manager Brian Cashman for many individual moves, among them the signings of Kyle Farnsworth and Kei Igawa and (for the moment) the re-signing of Mussina, but his overall philosophy, of a greater reliance on internal development, is working splendidly.
On the Mets' side, the story isn't as sweet, not with Pelfrey flaming out after his promising spring training and Philip Humber showing little before the last couple of weeks. But Carlos Gomez and Lastings Milledge have provided energy and potential, and Joe Smith contributed plenty before presumably tiring. Like Cashman, Mets GM Omar Minaya wants more of an internal presence on the Mets, and he, too, is headed the right way.
If you think back to last winter, both teams played it conservatively in the free-agent market, refusing to shell out huge dollars for the Jeff Suppans and Barry Zitos of the world. The result of those approaches is their reliance on rookies now, in the heat of the pennant race. I say that's an exciting change.