Sunday, May 31, 2009

Hughes Struggles; Wang Continues Resurrection

Phil Hughes pitched well for four innings, but one bad one cost him and the Yankees a shot at winning game three of four against the Indians. Luckily Carl Pavano did not get the win, though he did pitch well enough to get it, because as a Yankee fan that's just too much to take.

While Hughes' start was far from what you would call good, it still contained signs of good things to come for his future at least. He was touching 94 with his fastball and averaging almost 93 for the game. Like Joba, Hughes needs to be more economical with his pitches as he topped 20 pitches on three of the five times he went to the mound.

At only 22, Hughes still has a long way to go with his development, but during this most recent stint with the Yankees we have seen what the young righty can do. Sure he had his ugly starts but spliced in between those were a few decent starts and one great start. He still has some growing to do and the reality is that growing can't really happen at the Triple-A level, but away he will probably go especially in light of Chien-Ming Wang's three solid innings in relief.

Wang's velocity has gone way up since his return to the big league squad. He was consistently hitting 92 during the game and looked much better than his April version. This latest appearance and Hughes' substandard performance is the likely the transition Cashman and Girardi have been looking for. Wang would be lined up for Hughes' turn and the Yanks don't need to deal with sending down a dominant Phil Hughes for a suspect Wang.

If Wang can be the pitcher the Yankees were expecting in the beginning of the season, and really there is no reason to expect he wont be in the long run, then the Yankee rotation may be much more consistent for the remainder of the season. His return will also ease the load on a weak bullpen that needs to be protected by starters that can go deep into games.

A turnaround for Wang would give the Yankees the deepest rotation in the game.

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