General Joe did something in his 19th game as manager that Gentle Joe didn't do in 12 years - show obvious frustration with one of his players. In the 3rd Joe went to the mound and essentially read Ikky the riot act. It had nothing to do with the score, or the count, or Ikky's stuff - it had to do with his approach.
The Yanks have been preaching to both Kennedy and Hughes that their stuff is more than good enough to get major league hitters out. They have been telling them constantly that nibbling is only going to get them in unneeded trouble and that they need to attack hitters.
Kennedy walked 5 batters and threw 85 (!) pitches in 2.2 innings; he also stuck out 4. As Ikky struck out half the outs he recorded, obviously his stuff was very good. In comparison it took Ohley 48 pitches to complete 3.1 innings.
While patience with young pitchers is going to be necessary, watching them throw ball after ball in an effort to avoid contact certainly is not. We have wished for more fire from our manager and our team, and last night we got it from Gen. Joe. It will be interesting to see how Kennedy responds his next time out.
