Skip to content

New York Yankees: You Hughes you lose

Posted by on 26 April 2012, 4:19 am

Who has had enough of Phil Hughes?

Photograph of Phil Hughes taken on April 29, 2...

Photograph of Phil Hughes taken on April 29, 2008 at Yankee Stadium. 04:50, 1 May 2008 . . Mandalatv . . 1,272×954 (691 KB) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hughes proved once again, vs. Rangers, to be a liability on the mound. But this doesn’t seem to faze skipper Joe Girardi as he told Mark Feinstein of the NY Daily News this after the game:Well, the New York Yankees certainly have not, which is a real concern.

 “We believe he can do it and I know he believes he can do it. But right now, sometimes the ball’s running back a little, he’s leaving the curveball up, the cutter’s sometimes not getting to where he wants to so it is frustrating. But you’ve got to keep working at it.”

And if you were wondering whether Hughes’ rotation spot was in jeopardy, Girardi clearly stated:

“Our plans are to send (Hughes) out there again. He’s got to keep working at it. We’ve got to try to find a way to get it right.”

Hughes is one lucky guy, as most teams with other options would definitely use them because it is not like things could get any worse.

Even in his earlier start against the Twins, Hughes was mediocre at best. He did manage to pitch five whole innings, and get a W courtesy of the Yankee bats scoring seven runs.

In case you forgot, here is what Hughes has done in his four starts this season (stats are courtesy of mlb.com):

All stats courtesy of mlb.com.

Does anybody know how many more games Hughes has to screw up for the Yankees to take him out of the starting rotation? Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: You Hughes you lose’ »

Tagged , , , , , , ,
2 Comments

New York Yankees fate hangs on Phil Hughes tonight

Posted by on 25 April 2012, 3:53 am
Photograph of Phil Hughes taken on April 29, 2...

Photograph of Phil Hughes taken on April 29, 2008 at Yankee Stadium. 04:50, 1 May 2008 . . Mandalatv . . 1,272×954 (691 KB) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hiroki Kuroda had a solid night on the mound, as he limited the Rangers to just two earned runs but unfortunately the Yankees bats got shut out by his opponent Yu Darvish.

I called this outcome yesterday, as the Yankees line-up has a history of struggling when facing a pitcher for the first time but to his credit, Darvish played a part in this too.

Still, watching the Yankees strand 16 runners for nine innings was beyond irritating. It was around the third inning that I knew the Yankees odds of scoring a run were slim-to-none; and that nightmare came true as they lost 2-0.

So now the series is split, and the Yankees will hand the ball to Phil Hughes in the rubber match tonight, which is far from comforting.

For Hughes tonight might as well be Christmas Day, as this start gives him another opportunity to get a huge win against a top team, and come through when the Yankees need him.

Hughes has an impeccable track record in Rangers Ballpark, so everything is working in his favor. (Stats are courtesy of baseball-reference.com)

Phil Hughes career stats vs. Rangers at Rangers Ballpark.

As of now, I am 99% convinced that the 18-game winning, All-Star from 2010 was really just a mediocre pitcher who got lucky and a lot of run support.

Not very often do people get so many chances to prove their critics wrong, and Hughes has this one being served on a silver platter for him to do just that.

And don’t you think it is about time Hughes shows the Yankees that he was worth hanging on to? Continue reading ‘New York Yankees fate hangs on Phil Hughes tonight’ »

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

New York Yankees: Saving Phil Hughes

Posted by on 20 April 2012, 5:57 am

making a Hughes funny....

The New York Yankees did what they needed to do, win the game and avoid losing a home series to the Minnesota Twins for the first time since 2001.

Phil Hughes was not totally useless on the mound but he was far from good. You wouldn’t know it listening to the YES commentating, as it was honestly painful.

The way Jack Curry, and even Al Leiter were talking about Hughes, you’d think he was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Everyone knows that Eduardo Nunez made an error in the first, which kept the inning going longer but that is a circumstance not just in baseball but also in life; and pitchers should be ready for it.

Hughes really cannot complain, as he has caused the Yankees enough problems the last two seasons that it is kind of the pot calling the kettle black.

In the end Hughes got the win courtesy of the Yankees bats scoring seven runs. Hughes should buy Curtis Granderson dinner, as the Grandy-man went 5-for-5 with three homers and four RBIs.

This is the same way Hughes won the majority of his games in 2010, but putting a ton of pressure on the hitters to score and continually deplete the bullpen. He did pitch five whole innings in this outing, which makes 13 total innings pitched in three starts. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Saving Phil Hughes’ »

Tagged , , , , , , ,
3 Comments

Can Yankees Phil Hughes not tank tonight?

Posted by on 19 April 2012, 3:43 pm

LAST GAME vs. TWINS:

Phil Hughes during pregame warmups prior to a ...

Phil Hughes during pregame warmups prior to a game between the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles on August 29, 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The New York Yankees are down 1-2 games to the Minnesota Twins, so at best they can split the four-game set but that entails winning the game tonight.

Winning is something the Yankees know how to do, and especially against the Twins, but other than CC Sabathia the starting pitching has made that almost impossible. The lack of innings pitched has depleted the bullpen and right before the team heads to Fenway Park and Rangers Ballpark.

The Yankees are sending Phil Hughes to the mound, which is basically as good as forfeiting the series, and handing the Twins their first series win in the Bronx since 2001.

What is mind-boggling is that the Yankee brass, and shockingly a majority of fans continue to support Hughes because they have fantasies that he can win 18-games like he did in 2010.

Yes his velocity is back in the low 90’s, but that is about it.

Hughes has pitched a total of eight innings over two starts, allowing three homers, eight earned runs, 11 strikeouts, four walks and posts an ERA of 9.00. Opposing batters have a .351 average vs. Hughes, so basically with the way the Twins M&M boys are hitting this could be a blood bath.

In his first two starts, Hughes is throwing 64% of his pitches for strikes, as he tends to start each inning with a strikeout. The first batter he faces averages a .182 against him, but after that Hughes gets shelled, so this accounts for eight of his 11 strikeouts.

And the reason hitters succeed vs. Hughes is because he cannot to finish them because off, as they figure him out very quickly. This became clear when I looked at pitch type, number of times thrown and how many resulted in a strike.

2012 - Hughes - types of pitches thrown/pitches thrown for strikes

Out of all the strikes he threw, only six Rays and nine Angels actually swung at the pitch, which indicates to me they watching his location on purpose because 15 total swings and misses is a low number.

Well that is what happens when a pitcher relies on one-strikeout pitch; for Hughes it is obviously his four-seam fastball, and hitters know it is coming inside. Continue reading ‘Can Yankees Phil Hughes not tank tonight?’ »

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Comment

New York Yankees: Things are about to get harder.

Posted by on 17 April 2012, 3:26 am

Pavano on the hill at Yankee Stadium - 04.16.2012

After a lovely weekend of taking two of three from the Angels, the Yankees looked good minus Phil Hughes.

Last night the Yankees opened a four game set in the Bronx against the Minnesota Twins with a 3-7 loss.

It didn’t help that Carl Pavano (aka. American Idle) was on the mound for the Twins, as considering his history in New York losing to him didn’t sit well with Yankees fans; of course not much does these days.

Minnesota is in town for three more games, and the Yankees have manhandled the Twins over the last decade, winning 33 of their last 44 meetings in the Bronx; so winning the next three games should be mandatory.

Reality is the Yankees cannot really afford to lose any of them, as things are about to get a lot harder starting this Friday when they head to Fenway Park.

Their schedule is about to get kicked into high gear and the Yankees could very well wind up in a hole come mid-May if they don’t take advantage when possible. Figuring out which way this team will go is the million, I meant billion-dollar question.

Attempting to come up with a logical formula of where any team will be a month from is fundamentally impossible and might even send Bill James brain into a tailspin.

Still, like every team, the Yankees have issues that need to be ironed-out sooner than later but time is not on their side…look for yourself. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Things are about to get harder.’ »

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
2 Comments

Yankees are out of Phil Hughes excuses

Posted by on 15 April 2012, 4:35 am

New York Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes made his second start yesterday afternoon against Los Angeles Angels, and ex-Ranger CJ Wilson.

And Hughes preformed exactly how I thought he would, terribly.

Phil Hughes in 2007

Phil Hughes in 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have received endless criticism from LLP readers about my harsh stance on Hughes not having the stuff to be a starter; and that his 2010 season was a fluke.

Yes, Hughes went 18-8 in 2010 but in 14 of the wins the Yankees scored six or more runs, which was the most run support in baseball. Hughes pitched 176 innings and gave up 25 home-runs, which is not typical for an 18-game winner who made 31 starts.

Hughes was voted to the All-Star team in 2010 as his wins record turned a decent first-half into something it was not. And ever since Hughes pitched in that All-Star game he has not gotten back to being even close to decent again.

The real Hughes was on display in yesterday’s loss; and he couldn’t complete four innings, allowed six runs to score but managed to strike out five Halos in another pathetic outing.

And I hate to gloat…. but I told you so.

Everyone is so focused on how Hughes looks on the radar gun; and yesterday was no different as there were references to his velocity returning to the low to mid 90’s again, but in the grand scheme of things does it really matter?

No it doesn’t because the fact is Hughes cannot finish off hitters because they figure him out, like they did in the second half of 2010, like the Angels did yesterday and like the Rays did a week ago; and that my friend loses games.

Just watching Albert Pujols down 0-2 in his second at-bat, you could tell that he had figured Hughes out; and third pitch he hit a double.

The reality is Hughes is good for about two innings, as he proved successfully during the regular 2009 season coming out of the bullpen.

The question is how many more chances are Cashman and Girardi going to give Hughes when there are other viable options that would give the Yankees a better chance to win? Continue reading ‘Yankees are out of Phil Hughes excuses’ »

Tagged , , , , , , ,
32 Comments

Yankee fans welcomed home Bronx Bombers with open arms

Posted by on 14 April 2012, 2:55 am

OPENING DAY WAS A GEM….

Welcome home Yankees!!

It was another Opening Day for the books at Yankee Stadium, as fans got to welcome the players, say goodbye to a legend and watch the Bombers beat the Angels 5-0.

After a terrible first start against the Rays, pitcher Hiroki Kuroda took to the hill and he was brilliant.

Kuroda didn’t allow a run to score, pitching shutout ball into the ninth inning. He gave up five hits, walked two, struck out six and got a well-deserved, roaring ovation from Yankee fans.

Kuroda got insurance from the Yankee bats early, as Nick Swisher hit a three-run scoring double off Ervin Santana in the first inning. Than A-rod tacked on another run with a bomb to center field in the third inning, the 660th of his career; and Granderson went deep in the fifth, his second on the season. Continue reading ‘Yankee fans welcomed home Bronx Bombers with open arms’ »

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
Comments Off
  1. Pages:
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. ...
  9. 12