Nationals 4, Marlins 3
It is a mantra for Nats manager Davey Johnson now. Almost every time he sees Chien-Ming Wang pitch he notes a little bit of improvement: In his command, in his non-sinkerball pitches, in his sinker itself. On cue, Johnson said it again after Wang posted his longest outing of the season on Sunday – 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball against the Florida Marlins. Read the major details of Wang’s continued comeback from shoulder surgery – and latest victory – in our game story here.
The overall numbers are far from perfect and he certainly had some struggles early in games that first month back. But Wang has been impressive enough overall that the organization must be thinking about bringing him back for 2012. As always, though, it’s a matter of dollars and cents. This isn’t exactly the same guy who twice won 19 games with the Yankees in 2006 and 2007. But if he’s close enough Wang is another piece to what could be a strong rotation next year with Jordan Zimmermann and Stephen Strasburg both pitching a full season together. Jonny Gomes is one Nats player who saw Wang at his best when both were in the American League.
“I did face him when he was with New York. Definitely not a comfortable at-bat by any means with that sinker,” said Gomes, then with the Tampa Bay Rays. “He was one of the ambassadors with that power sinker. And there wasn’t many guys doing that when he was doing it. Velocity is not where it was when he was in New York, but he’s become more of a smarter pitcher, using his other stuff. And he’s doing a great job. Things are looking up for him and I think with this offseason to strengthen that shoulder it’ll be good to get him back on our team.”
Johnson said as much afterwards. Wang with the Yankees used that “power sinker”, as Gomes described it, almost exclusively. He could pitch into the mid-90s and didn’t need much else. Now, he is starting to trust his slider as an out pitch a little more. He can rely on a change-up, too – though neither pitch is anywhere near elite at this point in his recovery. The shoulder strength just isn’t there yet. And, really, no one knows if it will be again. This might be what you get with Chien-Ming Wang going forward. But Washington still might want to give it another shot in 2012 – if both sides can come to an agreement.
“Well, I’ve kind of had that thinking all along that – I know a lot of [media] and other people were kind of critical when he first went out, but I was amazed at how he was throwing from Day 1,” Johnson said. “Because I saw him in December of the previous year and I’ve just seen a little improvement every step of the way. And also his demeanor. I think he’s getting more confidence…That was a severe injury. The big thing in a pitcher’s confidence is that he can do what he wants to do with the ball and location and not have a problem injury wise.”
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