The Yankees have slowly inched their way back to the top of the American League East, and one of the reasons is their sarting pitching, namely Mike Mussina.
Mussina (4-1) is off to one of the finest starts of his career. He has kept his club in every game that he has started so far this season, and he has surrendered no more than three earned runs in any one of his starts. He ranks in the top ten in several different categories, including wins, save percentage, and innigs pitched, and he is in the top three in earned run average and strikeouts.
He has been the true glue of the starting pitchers of this club for several years now, and when he was thrown into the fire of facing the Red Sox' Pedro Martinez in several starts in the span of a few weeks a couple of seasons ago, he was brilliant, winning nearly every one of those starts.
Mussina has always been known for being one of the better fielding pitchers in the league, as his five Gold Gloves from 1996-2003 would indicate, but perhaps now the Moose will be recognized as one of the better all-around pitchers of his era.
Currently, he owns a 4-1 record and has an ERA of just 2.31 after his outstanding performance againtst the Toronto Blue Jays: six innings pitched, one run, seven hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts.
In his only loss of the season he gave up three runs but the Yankees didn't hit for him. And his strikeout-to-walk ratio is always excellent, usually at least three or four to one.
And the way that he's been pitching so far this season, this just may be his best year yet.
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