Ian Kennedy didn’t have a good pitching line last night in his start for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, allowing seven hits and four earned runs in five innings.

Mike Pelfrey, however, threw his first complete game of the season for the major league New York Mets and now stands at 12-8 with a 3.86 ERA. He has given the Mets a very solid L/R top of the rotation combo with Johan Santana.

Both pitchers were being counted on for their team’s this season, but only Pelfrey has been allowed to improve at the Major league level.

Two young New York pitchers seemingly going in different directions.

After a bad start against the Angels, the Yankees demoted Kennedy again and instructed him to work on his curveball – and he has for the two starts since being demoted to Scranton a second time. But numbers can be deceiving in AAA, just ask Brett Myers of the Philadelphia Phillies. Early in the season, Myers was asked to go to Triple A to work on his command and his control, his “numbers” weren’t great, but he improved the areas he needed. Last night, Myers threw a complete game shutout and is 3-1 since his recall. Also earlier in the season, after a terrible stretch where he lost 6 straight decisions, the Mets were thinking of demoting Pelfrey.

But, the Mets showed confidence in Pelfrey and it has helped in his development.

Control issues are usually the primary reason a young pitcher, in fact ANY pitcher, has bad outings. A pitcher will always give up hits during a game, but what really hurts are when walks are sandwiched between hits. Control  is the first thing a young hurler needs to get acquainted with when pitching in the major leagues. There are new umpires with tighter strike zones and their preconceived notions, better hitters who have “earned the respect” of these umpires, plus much more scrutiny from multiple layers of media. All three of these factors can make or break a young pitcher.

Kennedy appears to have improved upon the control issue. He stopped nibbling on the corners and begun to trust his stuff, especially the curveball. But, he has started to give up hits. Giving up hits is natural for a young pitcher – in fact, any pitcher. This will be improved upon with more experience – that is, MAJOR LEAGUE experience.

Coming September 1, when the Yankees brass finally realize they are out of the playoff chase,  Kennedy should be given the remaining spots in Darrell Rasner’s spot in the rotation.

Why? Because of the trade that never happened.

When Brian Cashman declined to include Ian Kennedy into the Johan Santana for Philip Hughes and Melky Cabrera deal, he likely knew he was not getting a World Series title this season – he was keeping his young pitchers so the Yankees can be better in 2009 and beyond.

The 2008 season is becoming known as the year of the young hurler. Besides Pelfrey, there are other young pitchers having some success this year:

Edinson Volquez (24) and Johnny Cueto (22) in Cincinnati
Jair Jurrjens (22) in Atlanta
Scott Olsen (24) and Chris Volstad (21) in Florida
Edwin Jackson (24), Matt Garza (24) and Andy Sonnanstine (24) in Tampa Bay
John Danks (23) and Gavin Floyd (25) for the White Sox
Kevin Slowey (24), Scott Baker (26), Glen Perkins (25) and Nick Blackburn (26) in Minnesota
Ervin Santana (25) and Joe Saunders (27) in Los Angeles for the Angels.

All of these pitchers have emerged this year as good starting pitchers, and most will be better next year from their experience this season. What most of these hurlers have in common is that have gone through terrible seasons in the majors when they first came up.

For example, Volquez is 15-5 with a 2.73 ERA this season, but two years ago, at age 22, he made eight starts and went 1-6 with a 7.29 ERA. Sonnastine of the AL East leading Rays is currently 13-6 with a 4.37 ERA. Last season, however, Sonnanstine was bombed (hit hard, not drunk) in 12 of his 22 starts and his ERA was 6.35 after his unlucky 13th start.

And this phenomenon does not end with just the current crop of youngsters. Brandon Webb is now 18-4 with a 2.85 ERA. He is the definitive front runner for the NL Cy Young award after finishing second last year and winning the award in 2006. Just four years ago, however, he was 7-16 in 35 starts. At no time did Arizona think of removing Webb from the rotation, and Webb was not considered a major prospect after having being drafted in the 8th round in 2000. Future HOFers Randy Johnson, Tom Glavine and even Greg Maddux got pounded their first seasons in the majors.

But what I read on the blogs and hear on talk radio is that Kennedy does not have the electric stuff of a Tim Lincecum or Volquez and doesn’t amount to more than a Quadruple A pitcher – one that is great in Triple A but can’t quite cut it in the big show. The same is being said now about Phil Hughes, too. What the track record suggests, though, is that young pitchers need a year (or two) to become what is expected of them. They need to “take their lumps” for a while in the majors so they can learn the hitters and earn the respect of the umpires.

There are only four current veteran pitchers, Atlanta’s Tim Hudson, Houston’s Roy Oswalt, New York’s Andy Pettitte and Milwaukee’s C.C. Sabathia, who have been really good in the majors since their first seasons. With one late season exception, those five pitchers have all had double digit victories (and winning records) since their rookie years. Pettitte did have an injury shortened season a few years ago. All other major league pitchers have had growing pains. For the non-Mensa members; that means only 2.5% of today’s 150 starting pitchers have not gone though these “growing pains.”

Brian Cashman knows that if the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs this season because of their reliance on young pitching he may be out of a job, but the franchise will likely be better in 2009 and beyond. It is quite possible that Kennedy or Hughes could be next year’s Andy Sonnastine or Edinson Volquez, but only if he is allowed to finish this season in the Yankees rotation.