What's The Big Deal?
There is a lot of chatter in the New York papers today about how Phil Hughes had better pitch well tonight or he will be back in the minors soon. The thinking is that with Chien-Ming Wang almost ready, Hughes has to show the Yankees something to stick in the rotation.
But where is the spot in the rotation that Hughes can hold onto? Even if he pitches a gem tonight, the Yankees are going to pick Wang over him. Hughes isn't going to bump any of the other starters out of the rotation either. And you can pretty much forget about the bullpen, Hughes is a starter and he will go back to AAA as a starter when Wang returns.
What Hughes is really pitching for is 2010. We know the 2010 rotation will have Sabathia, Burnett and Wang in it. We can be 95% certain it will have Joba in it. What we don't know is if it will have Pettitte in it. The Yankees could choose to give him another one year deal or they could decide that Hughes is ready to be a starter in the bigs. I imagine they would rather go with Hughes, but that will be impossible unless he shows some success in the majors soon.
Comments
The Yankees and every other team in baseball are looking for bullpen help. The only practical source is from within the organization and starters like Hughes should be given a try out.
Why baby him with another trip back to AAA? It would be good for his mental toughness to come on in relief and throw his best 2 pitches. I think he could be pretty effective in this role.
Posted by: Corey | May 15, 2009 11:12 AM |
I dont think it has anything to do with babying Hughes. Putting Hughes in the bullpen disrupts his growth as a starter. Hughes needs to be able to go 200 innings someday if he ever hopes to stick in a big league rotation and so far the closest hes come is 146 back in 2006. If he cant start for the big club, he needs to go down to AAA and develop the experience and stamina to be the big league pitcher the Yankees so hope he'll be.
That said, a trip to the post season as a reliever wouldn't hurt, but only if he earns it.
Posted by: Ian | May 15, 2009 02:25 PM |