Hughes to start on Thursday
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- April
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Joe Torre just said the Yankees will start Phil Hughes against the Blue Jays on Thursday.
Jeff Karstens will face the Red Sox on Friday followed by Kei Igawa and Chien-Ming Wang.
UPDATE: Hughes had been scheduled to start for Class AAA Scranton tomorrow. He instead threw in the bullpen today and will be in New York on Wednesday. They will activate him on Thursday.
“We’ll see,” said Torre when asked how long Hughes would stay with the club.
The team is off on Monday. So Hughes does not necessarily have to stay in the rotation.
At first glance, this appears to be a panic move. The Yankees spent all of spring training insisting that Hughes would not be called up until he was ready. Torre said the organization decided Hughes was the best choice to fill the need.
“It’s necessary for us but I don’t think it’s the wrong thing for him,” Torre said.
More to come.
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on Monday, April 23rd, 2007 at 6:02 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Over under on hits allowed: 0
great move-its about time we pitch a prospect like hughes rather than suspects like wright and karstens.
Good luck Phil, ill be there rooting for you!
You’re crazy Justin. Hughes is 20. As good as he may eventually be, this might not be pretty.
I’m psyched to see how he does out there. let’s go philly franchise.
I can’t wait.
Was thinking the other day how smart it was to be patient with this guy, but why bring up inferior arms? Will be interesting.
I was hoping this would happen in June, based on 7 or 8 straight dominating performances in AAA. Sigh. Now it’s just based on one. As they say in Star Wars, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Although I don’t like Karstens starting again against Boston, I’d rather Hughes come in against Toronto instead of the circus and the like that will come from starting him Friday.
Wow!!! Well let the future begin.
Panic move
Yeeeeeaaaaah booooyyyyy.
Do I think St. Phil will be great Thursday? No. He’s got some learning to do. But this will be the start.
(Cashmoney better be sitting over the dugout w/ a stun gun to use on Torre if Phil’s pitch count gets up there.)
Oh! no, too soon.
think Liriano and Felix
Let’s hope this is a stop gap move as we wait for Mussina to come back, and Pavano to remain injured.
Flip flop Hughes and Karstens.
he’s not ready… it’s too soon. Let him develop his 3rd pitch more! He’s not going to be able to develop it any further once he’s here
P-Huge is going to be fine. The only way I don’t like this move is if its just for one start.
Colin is totally right. It wouldn’t surprise me if Steinbrenner was behind this.
knee-jerk reaction. i do not like this move at all. the kid is 20!
Pete, you stickin to your words from earlier? or you going to blindly support anything Cashman does. This smells like a panic move to me.
Most certainly too soon but probably also just for one start. I’m buying tickets as we speak……
Panic move? The guy, according to Giambi — last spring — had the best stuff of anyone on the team.
Yeah, it’s really panicky to let your best pitcher pitch to real hitters.
My guess – 5 ER, 6 IP, 92 pitches, 3 walks, 7 hits
you are the BEST pete, thanks for the great info
Read Peter’s post from earlier, he makes really good points on Hughes, and this move is completely the opposite of what they should do.
Here’s a good read for you all and the exact reason why P-Huge should have been the first call and not Chase Wright.
http://www.baseballprospectus......red/?p=249
To quote Super Troopers, “Desperation is a stinky cologne”.
I can’t wait for Hughes’ debut either, but this might be a BIT of a knee-jerk reaction to otherwise short-term pitching issues. Unless Pavano is out for the season again…………is he?
Not a move I’m comfortable with…
This is not good. I hope it turns out well, but this is not a good move. There are other pitchers, it’s very early. I really don’t understand this. Why are the Yankees acting as if they’re desperate in April?
Unless he can go 6 or 7 innings, how exactly does this help the Yankees current situation?
Who is a better idea of whether or not he is ready, us or people who do this for a living?
You people seriously have no idea. Liriano was stretched from the pen into a starter, and Felix has awful mechanics.
Phil Hughes has the ideal build for a pitcher, has an effortless delivery, and almost flawless mechanics.
He can hurt his elbow in AAA, innings are innings. The only question is “can he succeed?” and the answer is yes. Two plus plus pitches are more than Chase Wright can give us (and if the change is working, it’s a 3 solid pitches).
This isn’t a panic move, and Phil Hughes is not Felix Hernandez.
Ready to eat some crow from that last post Pete? Haha I agree that he shouldn’t be in the majors until the middle of next year but I guess its not my job to protect a future ace for a win over the struggling Blue Jays?
So much for a) Keeping him out no matter the rotation’s injuries, b) Letting him develop more C) Letting him get more than one good start in AAA before calling him up.
I’m hoping for the best, but I think it was too early.
I don’t know who’s decision this is, but it almost sound like someine hit the “panic button”. He’s 20 and its much too early for him to face a tough hitting club like Toronto.
I also read on the SWB Yankee Blog that that Humberto Sanchez had season-ending elbow surgery. That means that the Yanks have now lost four of their TOP 8 prospects in the minors – Cox, Melancon, and Christian Garcia. Joba Chamberlain is still disabled, too!
What’s happening? Is it our new “performance and strength” guru?
Also, I have always said that Torre has poor pitching management -and this weekend really convinced me of that. He’s had a tendency to pull starters too quickly, the net result being too many appearances for the relief corps, and not enough work for Rivera, who is still trying to find his rhythym.
Phil Hughes has a great fastball. Major league hitters hit great fastballs. His secondary pitches which will make him a dominant pitcher are lacking, and he’s not going to fool big league hitters without them.
Fernando, you have no idea what you are talking about. Phil Hughes has a destructive curveball and a plus changeup that he’s still developing.
This isn’t Mike Pelfrey.
Latham Joe –
The “not enough work for Rivera” is true enough. But, what if you decide to give him work in a non-save situation game, and then the next day you need a save, and the day after that you need a save. I agree they’ve got to find a way, but it’s not that cut-and-dried.
I thought it was April Fools for a minute. I do not like like this move one bit. He is not ready he proved that in spring training. Even his manager in AAA said he needs more time and still has to have command of his fastball to both sides of the plate, throw the curve ball and change up for strikes and THEN he will be ready. I definitely thought they would leave him in AAA for a couple of months to see how he does there. When you have someone as special and important as he is to the organization you do not mess with that. I hope they dont hurt this kids confidence. Even though he has all of this talent and people think he will be great in the future if he is not ready for the majors then why would they think that he would fair any better then the kids that they have put out there already. Instead they should of brought up Clippard or someone else from AAA where honestly it doesnt matter if they are ready or not or hurt there confidence…they are not the future. 100% panic move hurting the future for the month of April.
I dont understand why everyone’s hitting the panic button on bringing him up for what I assume is one start. If he puts in the same amount of work he would in Scranton, why not see where he’s at in comparison to big league talent?
Hughes is going to be fine, but this is definately another sign of “Crisis in the Bronx 2007″.
A “destructive” curveball? This guy couldn’t put that curveball over the plate in spring training. He might be fooling triple A hitters, oh wait! He’s not even doing that, he’s had one good outing thus far, and I don’t think that makes him big league ready.
oh man hes going to be on like 6 days rest, thats a little too much i think … so much pressure on the kid at least let him be on normal rest … i do think hughes is ready for the show but i would have given him a few more starts in AAA ball because you can’t baby someone in the majors (thats what the minors is for) theres no way they are going to let this kid go 100 pitches and 7 innings. he’ll go 5 maybe 6 … even if its dominating it’ll still hurts the pen
God, I am so sick of this team and its asinine moves. They’re going to bring Hughes up after THREE AAA starts on on seven days’ rest?! Why, for God’s sake? Hughes is a special pitcher — the best pitcher they’ve had in their system in ages — and you don’t bring him up unless it’s to STAY. Don’t bring him up for a start or two. He looked like he was just settling in at AAA.
This is the worst kind of panic move I’ve ever seen. I thought Cashman was beyond this kind of crap. This is just a dumb, dumb move. Cashman must be getting heat from someone, because I cannot believe he would panic like this.
We’re still in April last time I checked. The Yankees started two rookies (one who was basically still in rehab mode) against the Sox’s aces and they should have won two of the three games. There’s no need to make a move like this.
I hope Hughes dominates. I hope Hughes never leaves the team.
I’m this kid’s biggest fan — I went to Trenton on numerous occasions to see him pitch — and I think he’s going to be an ace one day — but I simply hate the circumstances under which he’s being brought up.
Captain, while Hughes is the best prospect in the organization, its asinine to put all your chips on one player and screw the rest.
Phil Hughes has a great fastball. Major league hitters hit great fastballs. His secondary pitches which will make him a dominant pitcher are lacking, and he’s not going to fool big league hitters without them.
If you think that’s all Hughes has, you have absolutely no clue about him. He has a great fastball and a great curveball as well. The two things he needs to work on is locating his fastball inside and commanding his changeup. He was doing both excellently in his last start in AAA.
I wish he wasn’t getting called up this soon. I would rather let him prove he can do both of those things for a couple months in AAA, but his stuff is more than enough to get out major league hitters now. My concern is that when he’s excited he tends to overthrow a bit, and his fastball stays up. I don’t think he’ll have a very good first start, but will be fine after some adjustments.
As we see with Fransworthless and Proctor good fastballs can be hit. It is all about the location and his command of his second pitches, Which his coaches say he doesnt have yet.
Wow. This is George’s move. No question. I hope he is lights out but I’m nervous about it. So our rotation is Pettite, Karstens, Hughes, Wang, and Rasner. Is that right?
One more thing. Say Hughes is decent, not great but gets the job done. Let’s say, 6 IN 5K 3ER. Is he then dropped when Moose comes back? Pete?
Kyle, I know about his three pitch selection. I’m not impressed. He had trouble locating his non-fastballs in spring training, and his “great fastball” got eaten up by big league hitters. I’m not saying that this guy can’t be dominant. I just think he’s too raw. Haren is another great fastball/changeup pitcher and I think Hughes can pitch like that, but he hasn’t shown the command necessary to pitch like that.
“We’ll see what we do,” Torre said.. “If we think it’s the right thing for him, and of course for us, I think we’ll look at it.”
It sounds like he will get 1 start maybe 2. If he gets lite up then they will send him down and say to him that they just wanted him to get his feet wet.
As far as keeping him in the majors after the start:
“We’ll see what we do,” Torre said.. “If we think it’s the right thing for him, and of course for us, I think we’ll look at it.”
It sounds like he will get 1 start maybe 2. If he gets lite up then they will send him down and say to him that they just wanted him to get his feet wet.
#&*&@**()$_^&#(@*#
I don’t like this move at all. Phil is ready and will pitch fine, but I really would have liked him to pitch at least a month at Scranton. I highly doubt he makes more than 5 minor league starts the rest of the way though. The future is now.
Fernando, Hughes has never pitched in the majors, and dominated a half-major leaguer Blue Jays AAA lineup in his last start, and has some of the best command in the minor leagues. You not being impressed doesn’t really mean much, when everyone else is more than impressed.
I’m on the side of not liking this move, although I think it will be exciting to watch him pitch on Thursday. Surely this is only temporary though, so barring a disasterous outing (say– giving up four homers in for row, for example), Phill Franchise should be OK. I hope??
“Kyle, I know about his three pitch selection. I’m not impressed. He had trouble locating his non-fastballs in spring training, and his “great fastballâ€? got eaten up by big league hitters.”
It was ST. Why anybody thinks that actually matters is beyond me. What does matter is that he showed last year he can consistently pump a 92-95 MPH fastball at the batters knee and can throw his curveball for strikes or bury it in the dirt for K’s. I’m not sure that he’s there yet this season, but at least he was in his last start. All of that means a lot more to me than a bunch of exhibition games where he was just getting ready for the season.
Start of an era…..lets go
this is such a stupid move. not only that, he’s going to be facing a very good lineup. the kid showed us in spring training that he wasn’t ready for this yet. good lord.
oh, and nice to see “iron man” damon out of action again. let’s see, missed time in the beginning of the year with a calf, and now has hamstring/back problems. good thing everyone jumped all over me when i suggested he’d miss time this year.
HUGE news. Great scoop, Pete. If Hughes is the best guy to fill out Pavano’s spot in the rotation, I say let him pitch. He probably would have done better than Jaret Wright would have in game 5 of last year’s ALDS.
Kyle,
I can agree with you that he has good stuff, but he doesn’t have that pinpoint control of his curveball that you think he does. At this stage he’s inconsistant with that pitch. He’s on and off. How many dominant pitchers do you know have a good fastball, an inconsistant curveball, and an improving changeup as their selection? I wish the best for him. I’m hoping he can remain focused enough to harness that control over his secondary pitches. He needs it to be succesful at the big league level.
Pete:
Who was dropped from the 40-man roster to make room for Hughes?
Anyone know when I’ll be able to add Phil Franchise in my Fantasy leagues??? I’ve been waiting for this day for soooo longgggg.
Boooooooo! This moves sucks, to put it lightly. Hopefully, this is just a stopgap start for him so he can progress according to the original plan. The kid still needs a bit (though not much) more seasoning. That being said, I am looking forward to it none the less.
The negativity in here could fill the Trop to the top
i think the move speaks volumes in their confidence in carl pavano.
i am for it… time to take the huggies off as mike francessa said.
hallelujah!!! Why baby him any longer we need the help!
If Torre did not spit the bit Friday night vs Boston, Hughes would still be safely tucked away in the minors. Now they are risking a young arm to make up for Torre’s managing miscues.
I am seriously unimpressed at hearing this.
Fernando, have you ever seen him pitch other than that one Spring Training game where his curve wasn’t working?
This is a good move. Forget the panic and Steinbrenner BS for a minute to realize that he’s here until Mussina is back. Probably a start or two and then he’ll go back down. He’ll get a taste of the majors and DEFINITELY give us a better shot to win a game or two than Chase Wright. Unless he’s absolutely lights out (and he won’t be) he’ll be back in the minors within two weeks.
This is not a disaster. This is somewhat of a desperate move but it isn’t that big a deal.
I don’t think Hughes is going to stay at the MLB level. This is a spot start, and one Major League start isn’t going to destroy years of conditioning. The Yankees aren’t going to throw him out day after day until his arm falls off.
If they wanted to keep him up there, I’d be worried, but Phil Hughes’s maximum potential isn’t magically set in stone after his big-league debut.
Relax and enjoy the game.
Swo, did you see his april 12 outing? Not pretty.
Please don’t quote Francessa as someone who knows anything about player development (or sports in general). He is in the ENTERTAINMENT industry, doesn’t know jack about how prospects should be groomed and is only looking for this move b/c it gives him something new to fill up airspace. “Time to take the Huggies off” is one of the most asinine statements I have ever heard. The kid is 20 years old, not even three full years out of high school, and a little more time to grow is more important than losing three games in a row on national TV.
Their is no argument that Hughes has great stuff. Its his age, inexperience, and the fact that he’s still working on command that makes it a questionable move. If he was so ready, why did Chase Wright (who never pitched above A Ball) get the call before Phil???
Doreen:
I understand what your saying about Rivera in a non-save situation, but this early in the Season he simply HAS to get work. For the last two years Mo has not thrown over the Winter which makes it more important that he gets regular work early to buiold up arm strenght and perfect his command. If he’s not sharp, then what is the wisdom of using him in a tough save situation like Boston?
And if pitches an inning in a “blowout” to stay sharp, is needed the next day, it will depend on how many pitches were thrown. Torre has options (just like Francona did successfully) if Mo can’t go.
No, it isn’t a disaster, but the fact they’re even making somewhat desperate moves like this in April, is a little bit concerning. Its like someone in the yankee FO has been listening to talk radio all day, lol.
I have mixed emotions about this. I want nothing more than for Phil Franchise to be a huge part of this franchise but they’re tossing the plan out the window and what if he has a bad start? That could be a bad combo.
I’m out. Gonna watch the game. Let’s go Yanks!
I’m for it…how long should the Yankees keep a good young pitcher in “development”? Until he’s in his late 20’s?? NOOOOOOOOOOOO — bring him up, let him develop in the bigs.
And while we’re complaining — how is it that the Yankees do not have a decent back-up catcher for the one really indispensable person on the team, Jorge Posada???????????????
Unbelievable.
If you guys want an idea of how hughes pitches I suggest you don’t listen to some of the posters on here. The guy is the best pitching prospect in baseball for a reason! People like verlander, Felix etc…don’t get those titles for free.
Man, this is shocking. Put me in with the group that sees this as not a good idea at all. Sure, I’ll enjoy having a chance to watch him pitch, but it’s way too soon to pull him up.
I don’t see it as negativity that most of us want to see the Yankees go the safe route that they been following for Hughes. This is not “babying” for crying out loud – it’s protecting the health of your best prospect in years so that you don’t end up with the next Wood, Prior, or Liriano. How many times do people need to be reminded of those examples to understand the idea of bringing a 20-yr old kid along slowly?
Mark,
Easy big fella, Hughes is twenty, not twenty-eight. The kid has a long career ahead of him and critics of the move want to see him for the next 10 years not just the next ten days.
Great move Cashmoney!!!!! Give the kid a chance in the Big Show, its about f$$$ing time! This kid may be 20 in years but he is much older than his birthdate, a great chance for the future ace!!! People that don’t like this move can go watch another team! This is wonderful news!!!
Yes, Voice of Reason, and that may be why King Felix, Liriano and other 20-21 yr. olds have been experiencing arm problems, don’t ya think??
This could actually be a good move as far as controlling his innings. they’ve effectively lowered his number of starts this season by 1. He’s pitching 2 days later than his scheduled start and, if he stays in the bigs for one extra start, his next day to pitch would be an off-day, so he’d be pushed back. Overall, he gets three more days off than he would have. Send him back down and you’ve saved a few innings for later in the year.
They really should try to give him extra rest when they can so, later in the season, when he comes up for good, he’ll be able to pitch as many innings as needed.
Good bullpen management, Joe…Let’s see if we can get them ALL in tonight! At some point, Torre needs to bite the bullet for a Game or two and rest the pen, or they’ll never be effective!
They can still control his innings and pitch counts, why do you guys think there is such a danger to his health? He’ll either pitch those innings in the minors or he’ll pitch them in the majors. No difference and there’s no reason to believe they won’t be careful with him.
Why is everyone under the impression that he is only here for a game or two?
Torre said that if he pitches well he could stay up for the rest of the season.