Phil Hughes was flat-out awful against the Red Sox yesterday, giving up six runs on seven hits -- including a home run -- and two walks over just two innings. He now has an ugly 16.50 ERA through his first two turns in the starting rotation, but more alarming is that the velocity on his fastball was once again nowhere to be found.
According to Brooks Baseball, while Hughes topped out at 92 mph yesterday, he averaged just 89.84 mph on his fastball. He averaged 92.6 mph on his fastball last season. Also telling is that 30 of his 47 pitches yesterday were cutters, a pitch that was his third option in most cases last season.
The Yankees insist that the 24-year-old right-hander is healthy, so where do they go from here? Send him to the bullpen? The minors? Joe Girardi tells Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York not so fast.
Fair enough. Perhaps this is just an issue with arm strength, something that could be remedied by long-tossing and additional bullpen sessions. The Yankees’ starting rotation is already pretty thin, so Hughes should at least get a couple more opportunities to right himself. But if he’s still throwing like this later this month, it’s fair to wonder whether they will remove him from the rotation in favor of Kevin Millwood, who has an opt-out date of May 1 in his minor league contract.
