Rookie Pitchers Lead the Playoff Charge in the Bronx

The New York Yankees entered September in the midst of an extremely tight, three-team Wild Card race, jockeying for position and battling for one playoff spot, against the Detroit Tigers and the Seattle Mariners.

Less than three weeks later, the Yankees have practically buried their competition in their wake, opening up an almost insurmountable lead while steamrolling toward October ball.

The Yanks are 15-5 in their last 20 games! Keeping pace with the Cleveland Indians and LA Angels as the three hottest teams in MLB.

The Yanks are 12-4 so far in September... And a large part of this effort is directly attributed to the success of their rookie pitchers, who have gone for a combined 5-0 this month!

wonder-PHIL "Phenom" HUGHES (21)
i am-IAN "Impressive" KENNEDY (22)
agent-JOBA "the Hut" CHAMBERLAIN (22)
say it again-EDWAR "what!?!" RAMIREZ (26)
what's the fuss-Ross "Ivy League" Ohlendorf (25)

These five rookie pitchers have excelled down the stretch run of this year's playoff race...

Their combined production for this month:

5-0
2.75 era
52.2 IP,
42 hits,
16 earned runs,
20 BB,
48 K

WOW... Not too shabby eh?

These kids are already battle-tested, already producing under the heat lamp and pressure of this NY gothic atmosphere... Sort of like 1996 when Mo, Andy & Jeet rose to the occasion!

Here's how they breakdown:

Phil Hughes: 17.2 IP, 14 hits, 5 earned runs, 7 BB, 10 K... 2.55 era (2-0)

Ian Kennedy: 19.0 IP, 13 hits, 4 earned runs, 9 BB, 15 K... 1.89 era (1-0)

Joba Chamberlain: 6.2 IP, 5 hits, 1 earned run, 1 BB, 6 K... 1.35 era (2-0)

Edwar Ramirez: 7.0 IP, 9 hits, 5 earned runs, 2 BB, 12 K... 6.43 era

Ross Ohlendorf: 2.1 IP, 1 hit, 1 earned run, 1 BB, 5 K... 3.86 era

With the resurgence of Mike Mussina, one could easily predict Joe Torre's post season rotation: Wang, Pettitte, Roger, Moose (no particular order)... BUT... I'll say this: If the Yanks are to go far this post season, the five aforementioned rookie pitchers will have a big say in determining the fate of the 2007 New York Yankees!