Phil Hughes last pitched eight days ago on May 31st against Cleveland. Since then he's thrown a bullpen session and spent the rest of his time sitting in the bullpen doing nothing. Even though he said he doesn't think the time off will effect his arm strength, I think the Yankees are only hurting the 22-year-old by not using him.
A lot of young pitchers have trouble commanding all of their pitches consistently. We have seen this over and over again with guys like Joba and Hughes. The only way to improve is by pitching in games, to live batters, a bullpen session here and there is not going to help him. The Yankees either have to figure out how to get him into games or send him back down to Scranton where he will get regular work, and call up someone like Mark Melancon.
Monday, June 8, 2009
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21 Comments:
totally agree greg...
yea they should just send him down at this point and see how wang does, phil really deserves to start right now though
That's true Rich.
we have too many starters & this situation is getting in the way of Phil's development. He would be starting every week for many teams. Last year we prayed for good starts by rasner and ponson every 5 days. What a dilemma.
agree!! he needs to pitch
I think Joe wants him available for both Boston and the Mets
after that either use him on a regular basis or let him get his work back in AAA
Totally agree. He should always be starting in the MLB or AAA. We have Ace as a long time relief pitcher. We don't need 2.
Well Hughes hasn't been available to use until the last 2 or 3 games. I'm sure they are planning to use him soon.
Enough of bringing up Melancon, he isn't pitching that great in Scranton every since he got sent down. He came up and didn't look that good he is not ready yet.
What's the latest on Burnett's appeal against his suspension? Surely we are going to need Hughes to fill in as a starter some time soon? Personally, I'd rather see him pitch against the Sox than Wang.
After Wang bombs in Boston this week, we can put him on a raft and float him back to Taiwan, and Hughes can re-enter the rotation.
I think RPB nailed it. If Wang doesnt perform then Girardi will have Hughes as a backup. I think Hughes is kind of there to support Wang as he builds his strength back up. May not be fair to Hughes but that seems to be whats happening. He'll get his spot in the rotation eventually.
-G
Nothing against Andy, but expect a relief appearance from hughes at some point tonight. gotta get him ready to relieve Wang in Boston
Maybe they will bring him in 2nite, after Andy is done by the 5th.. help rest the rest of the pen..
I'm not in favor of getting rid of Wang. He is a great pitcher. He is just not the Chien-Ming Wang we've had since his injury. Before his injury his career record (4 seasons) is 54-20. Add his 3 losses from this year we get 54-23. Still pretty darn good. He gave us many wins in the last 4 years and will give us many more once he is "back"
How about using him in the starting rotation in place of one of the injured starters?
oh, wait.
Why would anybody want to get rid of Wang? Wang needs work. I happen to agree with Girardi that Wang's last start wasn't nearly as bad as the boxscore showed. This guy is one start away from a 7-inning shutout performance.
Hughes is up as short-term insurance, I agree with rpb on that. If the relievers were better, he'd be back in SWB right now. I suspect when Bruney comes back in 2 weeks, Hughes most likely goes down to compile innings. But you know, this works out to the Yankees' benefit too. Hughes was on an innings limit anyway, so this is no big deal. He still pitches in the bullpen & picks up pointers from the veterans. If someone goes down, you don't have to touch Aceves, Hughes steps right in plus Girardi doesn't need to mix & match in the 7th inning with the comedy team that masquerades as the Yankees relievers. Hughes himself is willing to scrub the floors to stay with the Yankees, you gotta like that attitude. (The money is better too)
^^^100% agree. Hughes will be back in if someone gets hurt (which I hope not) and when Joba hits his inning limit.
I agree that Hughes is simply an insurance policy for Wang. There is no sense sending him down until they see another start from Wag and determine whether he is going to be able to start for them for the rest of the year. And if he does bomb, they have Hughes to step right into that game and perhaps even the rotation.
Well he pitched an inning tonight. Thought he should have went two, but I'm not the manager.
At least he got some work in and looking great while doing so. That was the best he's thrown in a long time.
I think the object was just to give him an inning and keep him ready for Wang's outing.
You're probably right, Crossfire.
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