RIDING THE PHIL HUGHES ROLLER COASTER

My emotional state on Wednesday was as rocky as the performance Phil Hughes gave us. It’s become all too predictable over the past couple of years but somehow I still hope for a different outcome. In the back of my mind I stick to the “he can only get better from here, right?” theory. I’m still clinging to hope….but holding by a thread.

It requires a lot of patience to watch Hughes when he pitches. He’s not exactly “Mr. Reliable” and fans jump on him a lot….I get that. I do it too sometimes. The bar was set high for him, he was our “Golden Boy,” so just living up to that expectation is hard enough. I guess that is why I have always tried to stand behind him. It’s tough, because no one wants to disappoint, right? Make matters worse his parents were in the crowd right behind the Yankee dugout watching. Well, I tried to find a silver lining Wednesday night but it just wasn’t there. Unfortunately, by the end of the night I took a sharp turn somewhere.

It started off as usual, looking for the positives. I was talking with a friend of mine. Let’s just say he isn’t a Hughes fan. I spent an inning telling him to watch Hughes because I was predicting a good start. He start previous to this he looked sharp. I was so sure we were going to have the “Good” Hughes show up to the ballpark. He replied with: “Phil Hughes sucks. He is useless to any team.” I think that is rather harsh. So here I am defending him. I talk about how Hughes could dominate in a bigger pitcher friendly park because he fly balls won’t cause as much damage. Then came the 2-run homer. His next reaction was, “You were saying? If you combine AT&T Park, PETCO and Citi Field that wouldn’t hold his home runs. ” It was two runs, I wasn’t going to stress yet.

Hughes gives up the long ball a lot, we know that and have come to expect it. What we don’t expect though are a lot of walked batters. He walked 5 batters in just 4.1 innings of work. That’s easily a season high and just way too many. He’s lucky the A’s didn’t manage to score more runs off of him because that is just a recipe for disaster. Another common theme for Hughes are his short starts. He’s had 13 starts this season, and in 5 of them he has pitched 5 innings or less. He doesn’t pitch economically and he makes the bullpen work too hard.

I am trying to fight this nagging feeling that his time in the Bronx may be up sooner than expected. He has little to no trade value right now, but at the end of the season the Yankees realistically don’t need him to stick around. They could easily let him walk away. I know many think the Yankees should just let him go.

The Yankees do have some pitching depth. We all watched a great story evolve with Vidal Nuno. He serves many purposes and he has proven himself. There is also David Phelps. He has been consistent. He can adapt. We saw him transition from a bullpen role to a starting role and he has performed well. There is always the Ivan Nova gamble, although he has had his issues too. Difference here is he isn’t expensive like Hughes will be.

The biggest question mark here will be the awaited return of Michael Pineda. We are still waiting to see what we have here. After his 30 day rehab assignment is over the Yankees could decide that he would be able to help the rotation out if they like what they see. Given the uncertainty we have now, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did make the move. Could Pineda steal our "Golden Boy’s" job? Signs are pointing to “yes.”

I want to feel bad for Hughes right now. I just don’t know that I can anymore. At some point push comes to shove and you have to adapt or move on and the Yankees need to make that decision. Our offense is hurting, and right now so is our pitching. Right now, I don’t think I can handle any more trips on the Hughes Roller coaster. I don’t like this ride.

--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Senior Writer and Editor
Twitter: @NyPrincessJ


 
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