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Hughes completes third rehab start

Peter Abraham
July
18

It’s raining in Trenton and the game is delayed. But Phil Hughes is done for the day.

4 innings, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts against Binghamton. Word is that he threw 58 pitches then a few more in the bullpen.

My understanding is that Phil Franchise will start for Scranton on Monday against Charlotte. He would go up to 80 pitches then.

UPDATE, 6:02 p.m.: The Yankees just confirmed that Karstens will pitch for Scranton on Sunday and Hughes on Monday.

Does that mean he joins the Yankees on July 28? Brian Cashman won’t say. Roger Clemens would be scheduled to pitch that day. Perhaps Hughes could pitch the completion of the suspended game in Baltimore on June 27 then take Igawa’s spot in the rotation.

Once the Yankees reveal their plan (which won’t be today) we’ll let you know.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 at 3:03 pm by Peter Abraham.
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38 Responses to “Hughes completes third rehab start”

  1. Joseph P.

    Brian Cashman said that he won’t go to the majors before he hits 100 pitches. Billy Connors said he’s on a 75 pitch limit on Monday. So he’s got at least two starts in Scranton.

  2. Global Warming

    Thanks for the update Pete.

    Can’t believe I’m this excited for a kid coming from the minors.

  3. Eric

    The sooner Phil Hughes returns is the sooner Igawa leaves.

  4. SJ44

    The Yankees have home series from July 31-Aug 2 against the White Sox and Aug. 3-5 against the Royals.

    I am guessing Hughes makes his return in one of those series if all goes well.

  5. sunny615

    My money is on the Royals series.

  6. sunny615

    The same bet can be said for a Giambi sighting.

  7. Josh

    Just what we wanted to hear.. More starts for Igawa, jeezus were in a playoff race and every week that Hughes gets stuck in the minors, the farther back we’ll get. Cashman your an idiot! Pavano, Farnsworth, Igawa, any more mistakes.

  8. halfz

    Nothing embodies the spirit/intellect of some posters better than this sentence:

    “Cashman your an idiot!”

    In case you didn’t remember, Phil Hughes was injured while pitching a no-hitter against Texas. He’s a young pitcher who the Yankees have every reason to expect will be a front-end guy for at least a dozen years. Why would they rush him through major rehab?

    And by the by, I know “were in a playoff race.” But I also know that we’ve gained six games on Boston since our nadir. And we’re only 6.5 games behind Cleveland. If Igawa were pitching every night, I’d be a little more nervous.

  9. Rudy

    How about this: Josh you’RE an idiot! I even used correct grammar in that sentence unlike others. Halfz nailed it right on the head, I don’t need to elaborate anymore.

  10. SJ44

    Yeah, let’s rush Hughes back and hurt him because they can’t handle another couple of starts by Igawa or another guy in the #5 spot.

    If they did that, and he got hurt, then you have a fireable offense.

    IMO, on August 1, its going to be a “new” team, somewhat. Karstans, Giambi and Hughes will most likely be on the team.

    Between now and then, if they can make up a couple of more games in the standings, they have a two month push to the playoffs with their full compliment of players.

  11. the todd

    you have to remember they wanted hughes to stay in AAA atleast until about now anyway … the only reason he was called up was because of injury … hes the main focus when we talk about the future. they aren’t going to take any chances. even if it means igawa has 3 more starts.

  12. Chris

    No Josh, you’re the idiot. You would rush Hughes back before he is ready and ruin our franchise pitcher for what? Cause like a petulant child, you can’t stand the sight of Igawa? Yeah, we know Igawa is not a good pitcher right now, but we’ve won 3 out of his last 4 starts. So it’s not like he is killing us. Let Hughes bring his pitch count up.

    I wish you could smack someone through the computer. Now Josh, apologize to Cashman and go sit in the corner.

  13. lbwvw

    “I wish you could smack someone through the computer. Now Josh, apologize to Cashman and go sit in the corner.”

    oWnEd!~?!

  14. CB

    Cashman is the one who oversaw the drafting of Hughes. And Chamberlain, Kennedy, and Betances.

    In three years they’ve acquired more elite young arms than they have in the past two decades combined.

    It’s not even remotely close.

    Yes, he’s a real idiot.

  15. JeffG

    There’s honestly no need to rush Hughes.

    I’m more interested in what gets done with the pen. Besides the Farnsworth issue, Joe just needs to get straightened out on how he uses these guys. Vizcaino’s fastball was 6 or 7 mph lower last night than over the weekend. Another overuse victim of Joe the Butcher? Can SOMEONE please tell Torre he has more than three guys down there, and he’s allowed to use different guys? Pretty please?

  16. CB

    In his post game press conference Hughes said he felt fatigued after 49 pitches.

    Both Phil and Billy Connors were concerned about his fastball command.

    He’s fatigued after 49 pitches. He’s not ready yet.

  17. SnoopDog

    Joe Torre better bench Damon and not Melky when Giambi comes back. I HATE HIm as a manager so MUCH !!

  18. SnoopDog

    CB: Hughes said he was gased but felt like he could go 9.

  19. sunny615

    Maybe JeffG, but who?

    Scott Proctor – has allowed 8 runners in his last 2 2/3 innings.
    Ron Villone – last outing was a blown save.
    Edwar Ramirez – hasn’t pitched since before the All-Star break and is a rookie who could potentially have serious problems if placed in a high pressure situation (see Hanson, Craig).
    Mike Myers – a lefty specialist who can’t get lefties out and against whom lefties are hitting .327/.406/.473 so far this season.

  20. CB

    SnoopDog,

    I know he said he “could” go 9 innings. But if he’s fatigued after throwing 49 pitches against double A hitters how is he supposed to come up now as some people on the board were calling for and throw 80-90 pitches in the majors?

    He can’t just jump from 49 pitches in a game to a full load in the majors

    He needs more time to build up arm strength. Otherwise he’s just going to be at risk to get hurt again – this time maybe his arm.

  21. sunny615

    CB has a very good point. Throw him back in now and you got yourself a recipe for arm troubles. The Yankees will not risk their future ace.

  22. SnoopDog

    This is why he has that Triple A start before coming up to the big stage.

  23. sunny615

    Cash has stated he wants a pitch count of 100 before even thinking of promoting him so my guess would be two more starts in Scranton. 80 for his next start and then 100 the following week.

  24. CB

    I agree with Sunny615. You could see Hughes needing at least two starts at Scranton. Next start 75 pitches the one after 90.

    While Phil had a good game the first inning he really wasn’t that sharp. He was fine but not Phil Hughes commanding. Also his velocity was 91-92 – not that off from where he usually sits but it is a couple of miles down.

    Jim Callis from baseball america just did a chat and he said he’d take Hughes over Tim Lincecum.

    Hughes is one of the best pitching prospect baseball has seen since Mark Prior. The yanks have never had anyone on this level. They are right to be so cautious with him.

  25. hmmm

    and it’s possible that Joba will be one of the highest rated pitching prospects in baseball next year.

    when was the last time the yankees had 2 top 5 prospects so close to each other?

  26. hmmm

    Hughes, Joba, Wang.

    these guys could be the backbone of the team for the next 10 years.

    that idea is simply more important than winning 1-2 more games this season by rushing Hughes back or using Chamberlain in the bullpen.

    Cashman knows this, even if it puts his job in danger.

  27. CB

    hmmm,

    baseball america had Joba ranked #9 in their top 25 mid-season prospect rankings (he was #75 before the season started). He was the 5th highest rated pitcher (behind homer bailey reds, clayton kershaw of the dodgers, clay buchholz red sox and jacob mcgee of tampa)

    keith law has joba in his top 5 prospects (bj upton, jay bruce, cameron maybin, clayton kershaw and joba)

    by the end of the year he will move up even more. he’s phenomenal. he probably has a higher upside than anyone in the minors other than kershaw.

    having him, phil and wang anchoring the rotation will be phenomenal.

  28. SJ44

    I don’t buy that Vizcaino lost 7 MPH on his fastball last night.

    Two of his appearances since the break, he threw 1 pitch in one and 4 pitches in the other. Not exactly “overwork”.

    They made the observation last night after he threw an 84 MPH changeup and an 85 MPH slider back to back.

    He then threw a 90 MPH fastball on his third pitch, and the nobody said a word in the booth.

    Don’t take the Yankees broadcast teams comments as gospel. Watch the games.

    The Yankee broadcasters, both TV and radio, miss more game action than any crews in baseball.

  29. SJ44

    If Hughes felt tired after 49 pitches, he needs two more starts before being ready for the majors.

    You can’t rush him and they won’t rush him. So, before all the second guessing begins, realize that when a young pitcher is tired after 49 pitches, and his fastball command is off, he isn’t ready to go yet.

    Monday and Saturday starts for Scranton, then we see, IMO. That puts him on pace for an August 2-4 return for the Yankees. Right in time for the Royals series at the Stadium.

  30. Jerry Tee

    What’t IMO?

  31. ML

    In My Opinion.

  32. ML

    CB,

    It was Justin Upton to whom Law was referring in his chat. BJ Upton is no longer a prospect now that he’s in the majors (and doing quite well for my fantasy team, thank you very much). In fact, he may have been an all star this year if he hadn’t gotten hurt in June.

  33. CB

    ML,

    Thanks for the correction – I meant Justin Upton. I think I had BJ in my head from the last series against the Rays when he was lumbering around the bases from that injury and got thrown out by matsui!

  34. Mehdi

    Josh what is wrong with you. I can’t believe what you typed! It’s ‘you’re and idiot’ not ‘your’. Please please please don’t make these types of mistakes again.

  35. SnoopDog

    Let’s leave it to Billy Connors to decide what they do with hughes.

  36. Paul

    I agree with Billy Connors. Hughes is behind stamina wise but it sounds like from what I was reading today that his mechanics are good. I agree with Joe P., I think it will take Hughes two starts or maybe three to get to 85 to 100 pitches.

  37. Holy Cow!!

    we have to remember, hughes didn’t throw off the mound in May and most of June. Even though he’s young and a stud, he’s gonna need more than three weeks to return to full game shape.

  38. Rick

    Really exciting to see Hughes getting ready to come back. I have followed the farm system much this year. They have some real quality players working their way through the syste. Chamberlain, Hughes, Kennedy, Gardner, Tabata, and Jackson just to name a few. Saw that Kevin Whelan is now starting for Tampa. He and two other pitchers threw a no hitter last night.

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About the authors
Chad JenningsChad Jennings joined the The Journal News in October 2009, having spent the better part of seven years covering baseball in Scranton, PA. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri and an award-winning beat reporter and features writer. E-mail me at cjennings@lohud.com
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Sam BordenSam Borden is an award-winning journalist who joined The Journal News and LoHud.com in January 2008. He covered the Yankees for the New York Daily News from 2004-06, and has also worked as a columnist for the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville. E-mail me at sborden@lohud.com
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Sam BordenJosh Thomson has done some of everything since joining The Journal News in March 2003. He began working for the Gannett weeklies during the winter of 2002 as a freelance writer. He joined the daily staff soon after and has since covered various high school and pro sports. E-mail me at jthomson@lohud.com
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