Earlier this spring, New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman insisted that Manny Banuelos, who won’t turn 20 years old for another few days, had “no chance” to make the major league team out of spring training.
The young left-hander, says Cashman, will begin the 2011 season at Double-A Trenton.
This would make sense if Banuelos were your normal soon-to-be 20-year-old pitcher; which is to say, somebody in desperate need of more seasoning before being ready to even dream of pitching in the major leagues.
But to watch Banuelos pitch, even in spring training, is to know the minor leagues have nothing to offer him but innings. We see no rational reason to waste those innings in the minor leagues—especially when the major league team is in such desperate need of quality innings from the rotation.
While Banuelos possesses overpowering stuff—he has great command of three plus pitches—he is not simply overpowering batters. Even at the tender age of 19, the lefty is anything but the proverbial “thrower.” Banuelos is a pitcher, and an advanced one at that.
“(He’s a) special kid,” a former MLB scout told Yankees ‘n More. “This is the product you get when a guy learns to pitch first with pretty good stuff, and then picks up a couple ticks.”
And what about keeping Banuelos on the majors from the start this season?
“It’s incredibly tempting,” said the former scout. “Most young talents, you can see where they need seasoning. He (Banuelos) already has the moxie of a major league pitcher.”
For proof of that “moxie,” look no further than Manny’s performance Friday evening against the Boston Red Sox. Banuelos pitched two scoreless innings, but it’s not simply the results that impressed. It’s the way he achieved those results.
Banuelos twice spotted a nasty changeup for a strike when behind the count 1-0. He also dropped in a nasty curve for a strike when he fell down in the count 2-0 to a third batter.
And what did young Manny show when he found himself in a bit of trouble with two men on in his second inning of work? This kid, who had been sitting at 93 with his fastball most of the evening, reached back for 96—blowing away the batter to end the inning, while registering his third strikeout of the night.
So what’s the problem with allowing Banuelos the opportunity to pitch his way into the major leagues? Would this be any sort of issue if he were pitching as he is at the age of 22 or 23? Can Brian Cashman really be so blind as to not recognize a special set of circumstances when he sees them?
Seattle‘s Felix Hernandez was pitching in the major leagues at a younger age than Banuelos is now. In fact, “King” Felix pitched 84 innings in the major leagues the year he turned 19. He pitched 191 more the year he turned 20. If memory serves, that worked out okay.
That worked out okay because Hernandez was a special case. And when you watch him pitch, you know Banuelos is as well. To just blindly apply a strict set of rules to every 20-year-old for no other reason than because they are 20 is, at best, silly.
No, don’t misunderstand. The Yankees should be very protective of this young arm. But you do that with pitch and innings limits. Where those pitches and innings are thrown should be determined only by Banuelos’ performances. Period.
There is one other thing that must be considered with Banuelos, or any other pitcher for that matter: injuries.
Tomorrow is not promised to any of us, especially not to pitchers. God forbid Banuelos is one of those unfortunates who only has a very limited number of bullets in the chamber—think Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, etc.
But whether young Banuelos proves to be the next Mark Prior or the next Nolan Ryan when it comes to health, the question still has to be asked:
Just how many of Manny’s bullets do we wish to waste on the minor leagues?
Brian Cashman might not be ready to see Manny pitch in the major leagues, but the kid is sure enough ready to pitch at that level. To send him anyplace else would be a waste.
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