BASEBALL; Yankees' Rotation Rounds Into Shape
Torre
Wells threw six shutout innings against Toronto on Friday  allowing three hits  walking one and striking out six. He showed a good curveball and fastball  lending credence to  Torre 's theory that Wells's arm has special resilience  that he is a physiological freak of nature. A strained muscle in his rib cage set Wells back by about two weeks  and he has already rebounded and caught up with his fellow starters.
Mendoza pitched effectively in a minor league intrasquad game Friday. He has been the most erratic of the starters  sometimes drifting out from his prototypical pitching mechanics and losing the sinking motion on his fastball.  Torre  said that Mendoza must occasionally be reminded to hold his delivery together.
If Irabu cannot pitch on April 3 in Oakland  as expected   Torre  will juggle  his  rotation  throwing Mendoza that day and then using Willie Banks on April 5. Brian Cashman  the Yankees' general manager  believes Irabu's condition is not serious -- based on the information doctors are giving  him  -- and will not attempt to acquire another starting pitcher.
Regardless  Irabu improved his standing in  Torre 's mind while impressively racking up 12 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings. ''The stuff Irabu threw out there in his last couple of starts  and how he refined his delivery and worked on holding people on  all that stuff is very positive  '' Torre  said.
 Torre  is saying that Cone will generally be limited to 100 pitches an outing  rather than being allowed 130 to 135 pitches. Cone appears to be taking this as a personal challenge  to try to throw as many innings with as few pitches as possible. Against Texas  he averaged 12 pitches an inning  or about 4.5 fewer than he did in 29 starts last season. He got through one inning with four pitches  throwing strikes with his fastball of 87 to 91 miles an hour to both sides of the plate. Several times Cone threw sidearm  spinning breaking balls away from right-handed batters.
''I saw a different David Cone today ''  Torre  said. '' He  moved the ball around and wasn't concerned about making them swing and miss  and that to  me  is a great lesson for a lot of pitchers to learn.''
Cone's efficiency prompted an unusual conversation between Mel Stottlemyre  the pitching coach  and  Torre . Stottlemyre said he had never had a pitcher throw a complete game in spring training  and  overhearing this  Cone assured Stottlemyre he could finish the game  if need be.
 Torre  said: ''That was really great  to have him pitch seven innings and still have something left in the tank. That was very important  because he still could've gone out there.''
Wells threw six shutout innings against Toronto on Friday  allowing three hits  walking one and striking out six. He showed a good curveball and fastball  lending credence to  Torre 's theory that Wells's arm has special resilience  that he is a physiological freak of nature. A strained muscle in his rib cage set Wells back by about two weeks  and he has already rebounded and caught up with his fellow starters.
Mendoza pitched effectively in a minor league intrasquad game Friday. He has been the most erratic of the starters  sometimes drifting out from his prototypical pitching mechanics and losing the sinking motion on his fastball.   [TGT] said that Mendoza must occasionally be reminded to hold his delivery together.
If Irabu cannot pitch on April 3 in Oakland  as expected    [TGT] will juggle   [TGT]   rotation  throwing Mendoza that day and then using Willie Banks on April 5. Brian Cashman  the Yankees' general manager  believes Irabu's condition is not serious -- based on the information doctors are giving  him  -- and will not attempt to acquire another starting pitcher.
Regardless  Irabu improved his standing in   [TGT]  's mind while impressively racking up 12 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings. ''The stuff Irabu threw out there in his last couple of starts  and how he refined his delivery and worked on holding people on  all that stuff is very positive  ''  [TGT] said.
  [TGT] is saying that Cone will generally be limited to 100 pitches an outing  rather than being allowed 130 to 135 pitches. Cone appears to be taking this as a personal challenge  to try to throw as many innings with as few pitches as possible. Against Texas   [TGT]  averaged 12 pitches an inning  or about 4.5 fewer than  [TGT]  did in 29 starts last season.  [TGT]  got through one inning with four pitches  throwing strikes with  [TGT]  fastball of 87 to 91 miles an hour to both sides of the plate. Several times Cone threw sidearm  spinning breaking balls away from right-handed batters.
''I saw a different David Cone today ''   [TGT] said. ''  [TGT]   moved the ball around and wasn't concerned about making them swing and miss  and that to  me  is a great lesson for a lot of pitchers to learn.''
Cone's efficiency prompted an unusual conversation between Mel Stottlemyre  the pitching coach  and   [TGT]  . Stottlemyre said he had never had a pitcher throw a complete game in spring training  and  overhearing this  Cone assured Stottlemyre he could finish the game  if need be.
  [TGT] said: ''That was really great  to have him pitch seven innings and still have something left in the tank. That was very important  because he still could've gone out there.''