Phil

Hughes

Hughes hadn’t pitched since 2018 and was released in August of that season after struggling to a 6.34 ERA. His best years came with the Yankees; winning 18 games in 2010 and 16 games in 2012. He won 16 more games for the Twins in 2014, but struggled to stay healthy after moving to Minnesota, and wasn’t particularly effective when he was on the bump with an ERA of 6.01 from 2016-2018.

He struck out six. Hughes is 7-3 with a 2.62 ERA, 67 H and 112/28 K/BB in 96 IP since moving up to Double-A. Overall, he’s thrown 126 innings this season. The Yankees aren’t expected to call him up next month, as they want to make sure he’s going to be healthy in 2007.

His best start since moving up. Hughes, the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect, is 3-3 with a 3.80 ERA, 42 H and 43/16 K/BB in 47 1/3 IP for Trenton.

Hughes hasn’t been allowed to throw more than five innings at a time since June. Allowed to go all out in shorter stints, he’s given up eight hits and struck out 35 in 25 innings this month.

“If you’re going to give a player of that ability up, you certainly want a player you’re not going to rent for the rest of the year,” Torre said. “You want someone who’s going to help you down the road. That would be my guess.”

The quality outing was Hughes’ second straight after he allowed six runs in back-to-back starts to end August. If he pitches well down the stretch, he should be able to earn a spot in the bullpen on New York’s postseason roster. He’ll get the Blue Jays in Toronto on Sunday.

He’s hoping to pitch in some capacity against the Rays early next week, but it might be as a reliever. Hughes hasn’t pitched since September 12 due to back spasms and will likely be used out of the bullpen during the postseason. “I think you have to think about that,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “I think that’s one of the things you have to think about just because he hasn’t thrown in a while and we’re not sure how it’s going to play out in the next couple of days after throwing this bullpen. Just a lot of decisions to be made by Friday.”

He is expected to split Monday’s game with Hiroki Kuroda. The change of plans means that Hughes is unofficially in the rotation and will likely start the third game of the season against the Rays on March 8.

Hughes struggled mightily in his first two starts, but finally seemed to get things together in this one. He struck out four and walked two in the game, though he struggled with his command and needed 103 pitches to get through just 5 1/3 innings. He’ll look to carry over the momentum from this start when he takes on the Rangers in Texas next week.

''That’s where I hope to be,” Hughes said. “Last year, I wasn’t anywhere close to that.’' Hughes added that he expects to be in the mid-90s by Opening Day. He’s competing with Freddy Garcia to become the Yankees’ fifth starter.