Garcia and Hughes to Battle for 5th Spot in Rotation

From Dan Martin:

With one less choice to make now that A.J. Burnett is a Pirate, Joe Girardi’s decisions become clearer.

Yesterday, the manager indicated that Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia would likely battle for the final spot in the rotation and the batting order and bullpen will look a lot like they did toward the end of last year.

“You hope everyone is throwing well and that you have to make a tough decision,” Girardi said. “You go with an open mind; CC [Sabathia] is the Opening Day starter and go from there. All these guys are expected to be starters. Phil Hughes pitched well in both areas, but we envision him as a starter. Once again, we have a six-man rotation and we’ve got to whittle it down to five.”

Hughes is running out of chances quickly, so it would be great to see him step up and win this spot. That said, as a betting man I wouldn't lay a dollar on that happening.