Mike Mussina was a great player back in the day. I can remember him with the Baltimore Orioles and when the New York Yankees first got him. In a nutshell he was one of the best pitchers in the Majors. However, over the last couple of years he’s been probably one of the worst regular pitchers in the Majors.

In fact, if teams were honest they’d have to admit that they loved when they faced Mussina. It meant that they would see a whole lot of pitches that were very hittable. Mussina had no really great pitch. His fastball wasn’t fast and his breaking pitches didn’t have all that much break. Sure, sometimes he would be on and throw a few good innings in a row but the Odds were always in the favor of hitter.

This year something has changed. It looks as if Mussina has figured out a way to be effective with the pitches he’s throwing. He has slowed down his breaking pitches. This has made his fastball seem faster. And it’s made Mussina an effective pitcher his last couple of outings. And it’s a good thing too, because the Yankees need good starting pitchers.

Sure the Yanks have Chien Ming Wang who is quickly becoming a top 5 pitcher in this league, but beyond that they don’t have much. Two young pitchers who were supposed to be so good this year - Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes - are not yet ready for the Majors. Kennedy was just sent back down to the Minors and Hughes has been placed on the Diabled List after suffering a stress fracture in his ribs.

So the Yankees need Mussina more than ever. And he is pitching better than he has in a few years. At least he’s been good in his past two starts. And if the Yankees hope to make a run at the American league East or the AL Wildcard then they’re going to need Mussina to give them many more good starts. But the way he’s pitched his last couple of time on the mound, the Yankees have to be feeling pretty good, rather than the opposing hitters feeling good before and after they step into the batter’s box.