I also wish the guy well, so why am I having flashbacks to Eduardo Villacis?

I hope it doesn't turn out like that.

I think Will is much more talented than Villacis.

But your first start of your career being in Yankee Stadium is not for the feint hearted.

Will is a great kid and one of my favorite players to talk to at Spring Training. As I said earlier..........he and Lamb and Odorizzi. They always stop and talk when they pass by. And they are always yes sir and no sir guys. Always a smile and a handshake. And after the first few days they recognize you and go out of their way to talk to you.

Now I don't know how that relates to starting in Yankee Stadium........but I sure have to root for him.

Well, Old Pro, it turned out exactly like Villacis. Three and a third innings, five earned runs.

Why would they do that? Mendoza had four days' rest. Why not throw him out there, instead of this kid who is still struggling to adjust to AAA?

The only thing I can think of is that they are not too high on this kid and threw him out there to get his bee-hind kicked instead of having some kid they do like take a bee-hind kicking.

That's the only explanation I can think of.

Smith was also long gone by then, but the Royals have played only a few innings uglier than the bottom of the fifth.

best part of that being Mijares coming in to face a lefty with multiple righties after him, he hits the first righty and then Yost goes to the pen.

Collins hadn't pitched since Monday, Mijares pitched on Tuesday. Collins is far better v. RHB. So naturally Mijares gets the call.

WHY DIDN'T THEY THROW MENDOZA???

THE ONE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION THAT YOSTY CANT ANSWER!

SNOOZE ON THIS WHOLE THREAD>>> WHO CARES???

IT WAS ORDERED BY MLB THAT THE ROYALS HAVE AN UNKNOWN PITCHER BECAUSE THE YANKEES ARE FRUSTRATED!!!

LOL!!!

"Well, Old Pro, it turned out exactly like Villacis. Three and a third innings, five earned runs."

Unfortunately..............yes it did. I had hoped that it wouldn't. But it did.

"Why would they do that? Mendoza had four days' rest. Why not throw him out there, instead of this kid who is still struggling to adjust to AAA?"

I don't know why they didn't start Mendoza. Better question still is why has Moore given up on Mendoza when he just couldn't do without him at seasons opening? Granted he has had some very bad starts at times. But so has Hochevar. So did Duffy. So did Sean O'Sullivan and Kyle Davies, for multiple years. And we kept running or still keep running those guys out there. But he gave up on Mendoza after only a very few starts for some reason. Don't get me wrong. I don't in my wildest dreams think that Mendoza is the answer. But he was one of the guys that Dayton just couldn't "block". And before a month and a half are over...............he has given up on him as a starter.

"The only thing I can think of is that they are not too high on this kid and threw him out there to get his bee-hind kicked instead of having some kid they do like take a bee-hind kicking."

Well........that could be. But...........if that is the case.......then I certainly don't know who they are high on or why they would be high on them. Smith has been a better pitcher than Montgomery in my opinion. And much better than Dwyer. If you go back through the Spring Training threads I think you will find that I have said since the start that Smith would probably end up in the pen in either long or middle relief. I don't even think Dwyer will do that. Nor Montgomery. Verdugo is a middle reliever. All of that in my opinion of course.

Odorizzi and Lamb.............maybe that Jason Adam kid way down the road. They are the best we have. They MIGHT have a pretty good chance. That is it. That I see.

I had hoped for better for Will. I still do. As I have said..............he is an easy kid to root for. But Will and the rest of those guys I mentioned are not the problem. The problem with the lack of starting pitching in this organization lies squarely in the GM's office and the Owners suite. Dayton Moore is in denial about the state of pitching in this system. And he is hoping for a miracle. A miracle that ain't coming.

And as I have said many times. Denial and hope are not a plan. He and David Glass are going to have to take some drastic actions..........in my opinion. And they are going to have to do so very quickly. If not................like all others before it for the last 25 years............this "process" is doomed. And for all the EXACT same reasons. The inability to draft and develop Major League Quality starting pitching. And that means trading top "prospects". And that means trading "cornerstones" in order to get adequate pitching in here. And it means spending David Glass money on free Agent pitchers.

Hope I am wrong. But I think it is becoming clearer by the day. If it was ever in doubt to begin with.

Now having said all of that........I still pull hard for Will Smith.

I hope he learns and can adjust. And that he gets some more starts.

His turn comes up again against the Indians. I hope he is in there.

And has better results.

We've brought him up. We need to give him a chance to prove conclusively whether he is ready to pitch here or not.

Didn't get to see the game, was Smith that bad or just a couple of bad pitches that went out?

In giving up 65 hits in 51 1/2 innings in AAA he was not real good there either.

Well supposedly his last couple games in Omaha that were real good, were due to a change in mechanics so you can't really go by his whole volume of work.

he was bad, but he probably wasn't as bad as the perception you have based on what you've heard from some of the media and fans.

he seems to be a kid that really values tempo. he gets the ball, gets the sign, and goes without delay. being that it was his ML debut, and in yankees stadium no less, it might've served him better to slow down and focus more on making a quality pitch than on tempo.

it'll be interesting to see what he does his next time out.

I'm not giving up on the guy. I just thought Ryan Verdugo with 35 hits in 50 1/3 innings would have got the call.

What do you think this poor kid was crying about getting called up to make his debut in Yankee stadium?

Can't we do without the over dramatizing, I mean really...

There is no way to sugar coat it. The kid simply isn't ready yet to be on any major league mound yet, let alone making his debut at Yankee Stadium. Yet there he was.

As Old Pro said, this supposedly vaunted farm system didn't have anybody any more ready than that to make an emergency start.

And of course, heaven forbid that we sign an insurance policy veteran like Jeff Suppan to a minor league deal just for such an occasion. We certainly didn't want to block this kid from making his debut.

"As Old Pro said, this supposedly vaunted farm system didn't have anybody any more ready than that to make an emergency start."

Sure they did, they have Verdugo, have to ask them why they went with Smith. I think they saw something different in his last couple of starts since they mechanical change & wanted to see if it played in the bigs.

"And of course, heaven forbid that we sign an insurance policy veteran like Jeff Suppan to a minor league deal just for such an occasion. We certainly didn't want to block this kid from making his debut."

You already forgot about the Doug Davis signing? if you weren't so worried about making the estab. look stupid you might have some room up top to remember these things, what a whack.