Hughes, Chamberlain, Kennedy.  The three guys that are supposed to lead the Yankees back to the promised land, the the three guys who all have ace potential, and the three guys who are supposed to form the best rotation in baseball.  Naturally, with the whole being highly touted Yankee prospects thing, a lot of hype and pressure was placed onto their shoulders.  With Joba’s dominance in the ‘pen last year, Hughes’ solid (but short) big league stint, and Kennedy’s dominant minor league numbers, these three were expected to begin that reign in 2008, and all fans in the Bronx expected immediate success.  Unfortunately for them, things haven’t quite turned out the way everyone had hoped.  Joba’s still in the bullpen, and they’re idiots for doing such a thing (Copyright Hank Steinbrenner, 2008).  Hughes is sporting a 9.00 ERA and a 1:1 K/BB ratio.  Kennedy ’s ERA is just a shade below Hughes’ (8.37), and he was demoted to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre recently.  The Big Three has turned into one struggling pitcher and a 22 year-old setup man (for now).  Lets look at all three individually:

Hughes dominated in the minors before he was called up in late April 2007.  In his second start, he carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning against Texas before he was forced to leave due to injury.  This start gave Yankee fans and coaches a lot of hope for the future.  He returned and was able to do a decent job, finishing with 5 wins and a 4.46 ERA.  He was set up to have a great 2008, but everything has gone wrong for him.  He has no control and gives up way more hits than he has innings pitched.  I’m actually surprised that he’s still in New York and not in Scranton.

As for Kennedy, he dominated A, AA, and AAA last year, posting a 1.29 ERA in Tampa, a 2.59 ERA in Trenton, and a 2.09 ERA in Scranton.  He was promoted to New York late in the year and had a 1.89 ERA in 3 starts.  Nobody would have expected his 2008 to start so poorly.  Any control that he previously had disappeared, and was performing so bad that he was demoted to Scranton recently.  He excelled in his first start there though, going 7.1 shutout innings, allowing a single hit, striking out 8 and walking none.
Now, on to Joba.  This kid has absolute nasty stuff.  His fastball sits anywhere from 95-100 MPH, and his slider is sickening.  In 24 relief innings in 2007 he gave up just 1 earned run, good for a 0.38 ERA.  Joba was a starter in college and was brought up as a starter until he reached the bigs.  The Yankees front office wants to play it as safe as possible with him and felt that keeping him in the bullpen for the time being was the right move.  He was expected to join the rotation for 2008, but the Yankees had second thoughts and kept him in the setup role, a move that was infamously criticized by Hank Steinbrenner.  He’s pitching pretty well right now, but with the problems in the rotation,  I wouldn’t be surprised to see the team start getting him in condition to be a starter again, which would take a minor league assignment.  I say it happens by August.