Wang to start season on disabled list

The Yankees will begin the season without the services of ace right-hander Chien-Ming Wang, who suffered a Grade 1 strain of his right hamstring while performing conditioning exercises on Friday. Wang, who turns 27 on March 31, is expected to miss at least the first three weeks of the season. Wang said he hopes to be able to return to a mound in "hopefully 10 days," which may be optimistic thinking. The Yankees plan to place Wang -- who said he was "very, very sad" -- on the disabled list retroactively at the conclusion of Spring Training.

A candidate to pitch on Opening Day on April 2 in the Bronx, Wang was the runner-up in last season's American League Cy Young Award voting. The hurler tied Minnesota's Johan Santana for the league lead in victories, finishing 19-6 with a 3.63 ERA in 34 games. In four starts this spring, Wang was 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA.

Cashman said that Wang's injury will open up a roster spot for another pitcher currently in Major League camp. The team still intends to carry 12 pitchers. Right-hander Jeff Karstens would appear to be a leading candidate to join the rotation. The 24-year-old has been a standout in Spring Training, compiling nine scoreless innings before he allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings to the Blue Jays in his last start Monday.
Source: MLB.com

Wang: Wins Will Come, K's Will Not

In 2006, Chien-Ming Wang went 19-6 with a 3.63 ERA, but he struck out only 76 batters in 218 innings. That ranked 130th among major-league pitchers, putting him alongside such non-Cy Young contenders as Steve Trachsel and Mark Redman.

Yesterday, in his second Grapefruit League start, Wang allowed two runs in three innings. He faced 12 batters. He struck out none of them.

So even if he doesn't match last year's record, which obviously reflects run support as well as his effort, "If he can throw 200 innings and be above the league average, he's extremely valuable to the Yankees," Keith Law, one of ESPN's baseball experts, said.

Fantasy owners will like Wang because of his wins potential and decent ERA on a solid Yankees club, but if your looking for strikeouts you will want to look elsewhere. Chien-Ming Wang tied for the most wins in the American League last season, but his strikeouts per nine innings ranked last among the top winners, at 3.14 K/9.
Source: Newsday.com