Wang's Rehab is Complete

Chien-Ming Wang finished his rehab on his foot and is all but cleared to return to Taiwan. A crucial aspect of 2009, as it is every season, is for the Yankees starters to be healthy, so it is absolutely imperative guys like Wang are healthy for the start of the new year. Winning 89 games with only Mike Mussina pitching without boundary was still an impressive feat, but pitching gets a team into the postseason and pitching depth gets them into the World Series. As we have learned this season, it doesn't take "clutch" pitchers or "aces" to make the World Series, the Red Sox thought they had 2 or 3 of them and none of them came through. Tampa has no clear cut ace as nobody even won 15 games, and they will be dancing with the Phillies (who employ Jamie Moyer and Joe Blanton in their playoff rotation) on baseball's biggest stage. Anybody can step up in big spots, the key is to have the most options. Obviously health goes a long way towards those sentiments.

• Seriously, someone needs to kill the "Big Game James" title. The guy is 2-2 with a 2.88 ERA. That's not the best record or the best ERA on his own team. He lost game 1 and game 6 in the ALCS and last night's start, though he didn't give up runs, was very mediocre. The guy didn't even get a quality start and struggled to pitch into the six inning. What is big game about him? He didn't win a big game all season either. Is it because his first name is James? Shouldn't it be OK game James? We haven't named Phil Hughes "Big Boo's Hughes" or "Big Hoax" Buchholz, or Brett "Beats His Wife and is a Liar and pitches either really well or really poorly with no inbetween" Myers, so why does Shields get to lie just because his name rhymes with "Big"? Earn your nickname!...Like the Flyin' Hawaiian, now that's a name I can agree with.
• I read on www.ESPN760.com (my old radio station) where someone commented whoever wins game three of this series wins the whole thing and I couldn't agree more both before the series started and now. If the Phillies win game three, it will mean they stole one, even at home, from Tampa with Matt Garza pitching against the ghost of Jamie Moyer or the soft outer shell of Joe Blanton. If the Phillies take a 2-1 series lead, they probably go back to Tampa at worst, up 3-2 with Hamels getting another start in game 5, then who knows what happens. If Tampa wins game three, all they would have to do is win a completely favored game four, or steal a game five from Hamels, or if Hamels is pushed up, steal a game four, or win a favored game five and then they go home, up 3-2 with Shields and Garza, their two best pitchers waiting.
• I start Hamels on short rest regardless of who leads 2-1 if I'm the Phillies. He has carried them on his back throughout the post season, there's no reason to try to fight that formula. You cannot have Jamie Moyer in this series, even at home, give Hamels the ball and hope he can be Superman. If he can win a second time, you're going back to Tampa and he's waiting for game seven, if he doesn't, you risk being down 3-1 or throw him in a non clincher game, tied at 2-2 in game 5 with no hopes of starting a decisive game 7. When you don't have depth, you ride your horse(s).