In 71.2 innings at the major league level (over two seasons) Kei owns a 6.66 ERA and has surrendered a ridiculous 54 runs on 89 hits. In short, he is absolutely terrible. The Yankees would be better served to forfeit the starts they would need Igawa for, at least preventing unnecessary injury in an un-winnable situation. Former Toronto Blue Jay pitcher Josh Towers is also hurling for the Yankees' farm team but his career statistics don't lend much credence to an argument for him to take over the role either.
The popular pick with the New York media has oddly enough been former Cub and Marlin Sergio Mitre. Coming back from a 50-game PED suspension, Mitre has reportedly displayed excellent stuff in his five starts at AAA. Even Yankees' GM Brian Cashman has called Mitre "a guy we’re very intrigued with.”
The raw statistics though elicit less enthusiasm. Mitre has been good in some respects in the 30.1 innings he has worked for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. Sergio has posted a 3.26 ERA with only three walks but he has also allowed 29 hits in those 30.1 innings while striking out only 23 for a very average (for AAA) 6.8 K/9 ratio. If he was a young pitcher with no established major league track record, some potential could be anticipated from these numbers -- even with the slightly high hit total and low strikeout numbers -- but Mitre is a 28-year-old veteran and the time to evolve has largely passed him by.
And it's not like Mitre hasn't had ample opportunities to show off his stuff at the major league level. With five seasons under his belt Mitre has given up 372 hits in 310.2 innings, striking out only 188 to go with his 108 walks for a terrible 1.74 SO/BB career ratio. He's also given up a whopping 199 runs in those 300-plus innings, leading to his horrific 5.36 career ERA. While many in the Yankees' organization seem to believe that Mitre — now back from Tommy John surgery that shut him down for all of 2008 — is the answer to their rotational problems, his minor league stats this season, while seemingly solid on the surface, indicate that Sergio is still a very hittable pitcher.
Otherwise, the Yankees farm system is packed full of starters who are either not effective enough to start at the major league level or are too young and/or inexperienced to be inserted into the thick of a pennant race. So what then, aside from making a deal, can the Yankees do to solve their immediate pitching issues?
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