PHIL HUGHES IS A COMEDIAN

I personally have no beef with Phil Hughes. I think he's talented and was abused unfairly by the Yankees.  That's been documented on BYB.  I feel the same way about Joba Chamberlain.  Pitchers are fragile beings. Yes, as professionals they should be able to be jerked around from starter to reliever, technically at least, but there's a certain mindset and ritual that goes into each job.  I never liked the idea of Phil and Joba being thrown around, and ultimately, I think that ruined them both in New York.

Joba moved on to Detroit and he and I spoke a bit this off-season which allowed me to bring his farewell message to Yankee fans.  Read JOBA THANKS THE FANS EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH BYB!

His statement then was: "I appreciate it. I learned so much from it all. I'm so grateful and thankful for the tremendous 7 years. Ups and downs included. It made me a better man, father, friend, and baseball player... I wouldn't be anything without the fans that supported me. I know it was hard at times but I hope they know I gave it everything I had every time I went out there."

Phil Hughes should have been a starter all along in my mind.  I'm not sure what he wanted, but if you asked him, I'd assume he'd say he'd do anything the team wanted him to do.  We know about Hughes struggles. It's out there. But we also know Hughes is a good pitcher, and it's evident now that he's with the Twins.  I'm personally happy for him.

I wanted to share this with you.  This is from Phil Hughes, who tweeted this during last night's home run derby:

Home Run Derby night and only 5 tweets saying I should pitch to every participant #BabySteps
— Phil Hughes (@PJHughes45) July 15, 2014

Gotta love humor and you gotta love the confidence he has right now. I'm sure the guys getting hammered today by fans who just have no respect sometimes and think that hiding behind Twitter and blurting out stupid statements make them feel better.  Phil's not a bad guy, he deserves better than that.

Good luck Phil. You're a good egg. It just didn't work out in New York, but it doesn't mean you can't be a superstar in Minnesota and I know you know that. Reach out to me here at BYB. I'd love to chat with you.

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