Hiroki Kuroda secures a place in Yankees pitching rotation – MLB News
Hiroki Kuroda is extremely happy about his situation these days. Without making a single pitch in New York Yankees’ colours, he has secured one of the four spots in the pitching rotation. Kuroda will consider himself extremely lucky as other top pitchers like Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia, Michael Pineda and Phil Hughes were also competing for the available spots.
Selection of Kuroda leaves rest of the pitchers fighting for the final three positions before the start of 2012 Spring Training. The flame throwing starter, who signed a $10 million deal with the Yankees earlier this year, will now have an excellent opportunity to make a name for him.
Having started in 358 out of 386 games including Japan, Kuroda is one of the most experienced starters in Yankees’ pitching rotation. Not only is he strong and clever, he is always happy to cover the extra yard to please his managers and coaches.
“That’s what we are looking at," Girardi said about Sabathia and Kuroda being definite rotation members. “You sign Kuroda to start and you sign all these guys to start. Kuroda has a big track history [starting]."
“We have a competition here. We have to iron out five spots. Sometimes the five that you leave with aren’t the five you end up with," said Girardi, who refused to say Sabathia and Kuroda are his No. 1 and 2 starters, although Sabathia clearly is the ace of a staff with question marks for the second straight season. “We got time and there is no rush."
In an interview with a leading sport website, Yankees' manager Joe Girardi stated that Kuroda deserves to be in the pitching rotation. Pitching with great control and accuracy, the 37-year-old showed glimpses of his talent last season. His 41-46 win-loss record with a decent 3.45 ERA suggests that he can fulfil his potential even at the highest level.
The upcoming season will be of great of importance for the right handed thrower. He will be looking to give consistent results to prove his $10 million contract was no fluke. Only time will tell, if the pitcher can live up to the expectations.
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