tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

What’s Up With Phil Hughes??

Phil Hughes had another disasterous start yesterday giving up 6 runs in 3 1/3 innings, allowing 8 hits and walking 2 while striking out 6. While the Yankee bats once again could not capitalize on chances to score, Hughes could not give his team a chance to win. It's really troubling to see a once promising career teeter on the brink of being a middling starter at best.

There has been no bigger fan of Phil Hughes than me. What sold me on the kid was when he relieved Roger Clemens in a playoff game against the Cleveland Indians. On that night, Hughes kept his team in the game and the Yankees came back to win their only game in that series. In 2009, the kid played a significant role as being the set-up man for Mariano Rivera in the Yankees World Series run. The following year, Hughes won 18 games and made the American League All-Star team. And then the bottom dropped out.

Hughes has had a terrible problem of closing out a hitter. He will get ahead in the count, 1-2 or 0-2, and can't put the hitter away. This kid was the crown jewel of the Yankee farm system. In reading about him, he loves being a Yankee and was clearly relieved when Brian Cashman did not complete a trade with Minnesota that would have sent Hughes to Minnesota as part of a package to get Johan Santana. It was not wanting to give up Hughes that nixed the trade as Cashman had a lot of faith that the kid could be a top of the rotation pitcher for years to come. Suddenly, there's a question as to whether Hughes can be a servicable back-end starter.

With the possibility that Mariano Rivera may retire at the end of this year, it would appear that David Robertson or Rafael Soriano could be the closer in waiting. As a result, there could be a spot open for a set-up man. With Andy Pettite weeks away from coming up to the Bronx and the possibility of Michael Pineda joining the team at some point, maybe it's time for the Yankees to consider moving Hughes to the bullpen. He has shown an ability to excel there as evidenced by his performance in 2007 and 2009. It may be the only way to save this kid's career as a Yankee.