(photo: Getty)You can call BYB's Senior writer Mikey Blue Carnac the Magnificent. That's because while some were saying Hughes could work out his kinks in the majors he just needs more time, or others wondered if the Disabled List was where Phil Hughes really needed to be, or hell, what I said... Hughes needed to long toss more in the outfield to get his strength up. Apparently, we all may be wrong... kind of.
Mikey Blue wrote this piece titled: WHY PHIL HUGHES NEEDS A TIMEOUT. He argued that it would be a smart move to get Hughes down to Scranton and keep him pitching. Same routine, every 4 to 5 days, but he needed to keep working.
Well, he may be almost perfectly correct. We haven't had confirmation yet, but with the Yankees, everything's about the wording. Look at what Girardi said:"We were pretty close to possibly sending him down, but just talking everything out, we realized there's something going on here; let's be smart."
Translation... Hughes may still be going down to the minors to get some work, but we're going to trying something first...medication on a cranky arm.
The Yankees have a terrific young pitcher who lost velocity and has lost all confidence after a tough spring and 3 starts. OK, got it. The Yankees don't have the answers but it is now being revealed that Hughes is being given anti-inflammatory medication as a program to help with his arm strength(HERE). What? Now, that's news. But, is it true or are they saying that because they want to make it appear as if Hughes is "hurt" because the reality is, they don't really know what's going on.
Let's face it, everyone's baffled and if they weren't, they'd tell us something... anything. Plus, you know me, you know I don't trust a thing the Yankee say publicly when it comes to bad news. They shield everything. They do it on purpose and guess what, I have no problem with it, IF it will better Phil Hughes in the long term. So you see why we feel this way?
How about this, Hughes' is on the DL now, and say after that, he still has no arm strength. Do you think they will REALLY put him back out on the mound again for New York? I don't. I think Mikey Blue is right. I think the next stop after the 15 day DL is down the Scranton Wilkes-Barre where he'll go and he'll pitch on a smaller stage, build some arm strength, and build some confidence by mid-May.
(photo: Getty)This is our theory here at BYB. I suggest you bookmark it. The Hughes Saga is mysterious. Kind of like our theory, that's why I think it actually makes sense. No one wants to see Phil Hughes ruined, especially the Yankees, so let's just assume they're doing everything in their power to make this kid right, protecting him, shielding him and working with him. I mean, this is our third starter who won 18 games last year. He's important to this Yankee rotation. My God, it's funny how things change, isn't it? 2 months ago Yankeeland was writing off AJ Burnett... now our young phenom is on the shelf and Burnett's 3-0. Baseball is a wacky wacky game, isn't it?
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Like Mo has said so many times, "You never know with baseball." Whatever the problem is with Hughes, I have faith that the Yankees will get him everything he needs and handle him with care. This kid is a superstar yet to fully tap into his potential.
ReplyDeleteDown the stretch, roughly mid August onwards, especially in September, he was reeling.
ReplyDeleteHe did, however, have that good GM 3 start at home against the Twins in the ALDS.
As for the conspiracy theories regarding the Yankees (and I inherently I am not a person that buys into conspiracies), I concur that Yanks have, historically, especially since the Torre Era, been giving mis-direction about injury reports, muddying the true nature of player's problems, etc :-)