Kei Igawa: Racking Up K's, Struggling With Control

Kei Igawa, the 27-year-old Yankee pitcher from Japan, worked in and out of trouble on Thursday night in a 3-2 victory over the Braves at Legends Field. He pitched three scoreless innings but had trouble staying in the strike zone. The wild is that Igawa is not always able to stay in the strike zone. He walked four in three innings and threw 62 pitches (29 strikes). The effective is that when he does stay in the strike zone, he makes batters miss. Igawa, who fanned five on Thursday night, has struck out 12 and walked seven in seven innings in three starts. He has allowed eight hits.

Igawa and Carl Pavano still are expected to fill the final two spots in the Yankees' rotation behind Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte and Chien-Ming Wang. Jeff Karstens (nine scoreless innings) is competing well for a spot, though, and Igawa and Pavano must give the Yankees reason to put them on the team beyond their contracts. Karstens could make the club as a long reliever.
Source: Newsday.com

Kei Igawa Roughed Up

Kei Igawa's Grapefruit League debut was a rocky one on Monday, as the Japanese left-hander surrendered two earned runs on two hits and three walks in one-plus inning of work against Detroit. Despite his lack of commend, Igawa said his performance was about on par with where he usually is during preseason workouts in Japan, with his pitches sailing too high in the strike zone. "The result was not good," Igawa said through an interpreter, "but it was something I can learn from and move forward." Chalk up the rough debut to jitters, and give the 27-year-old southpaw a few more spring starts before assessing his big-league potential.
Source: MLB.com