I swear, it feels like just yesterday I was sitting in the loge boxes watching Phil Hughes make his Major League debut against (A.J. Burnett and) the Blue Jays. Other than Phil’s start, the one thing I remember most about that night was Matt Stairs taking batting practice. Most guys will try to work on things during BP, like hitting to all fields or whatever, but Stairs just loaded up and tried to yank the ball down the line and into the upper deck. It was pretty awesome, but I digress.
Hughes rode the career roller coaster with the Yankees. He was a first round pick, a super-hyped prospect, a budding ace, injured, an elite setup man, a World Series champion, an All-Star starter, injured again, an okay starter, injured yet again, and a replacement level starter. There were definitely some awesome moments and some not so awesome moments as well. The near no-hitter/blown hamstring game feels like a microcosm of his career, so much excitement and potential but ultimately disappointment. Hughes wasn’t a bust for the Yankees (Andrew Brackman, now that’s a bust) but he sure was disappointing.
Phil returns to Yankee Stadium this afternoon as a member of the Twins. The big ballpark in the Bronx was no doubt a terrible fit for his fly ball style, and while moving into spacious Target Field accounts for some of his success this year (3.23 ERA and 2.61 FIP), Hughes has also adopted an ultra-aggressive approach, perhaps at the urging of the pitch-to-contact-loving Twins staff. He has not walked a batter in his last 44.2 innings, a span of 175 batters faced. He has not walked a hitter in each of his last six starts, the longest such streak in baseball since Stephen Strasburg did it in six straight in 2011. He deserves a lot of credit for that.
I so badly wanted Hughes to succeed as a starter with the Yankees, but it didn’t happen. Now I hope they crush him today like I hope they crush every pitcher every day. The page has turned and he’s wearing the wrong uniform. That’s baseball. Here is the Twins lineup and here is the Yankees lineup:
- LF Brett Gardner
- SS Derek Jeter
- CF Jacoby Ellsbury
- C Brian McCann
- 3B Yangervis Solarte
- RF Ichiro Suzuki
- 2B Brian Roberts
- 1B Kelly Johnson
- DH Zoilo Almonte
RHP Chase Whitley
It is gorgeous in New York today. Blue skies, barely any clouds, and no rain in the forecast. Perfect day to win a series. This afternoon’s game is scheduled to begin a little after 1pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.
Michael Pineda Update: Pineda (shoulder) will be shut down for at least ten days before he resumes throwing. Based on that, it seems like the absolutely earliest he will return is the first week of July, right before the All-Star break.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.