Big game for the Franchise
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Apr 18, 2008 
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5 innings, 12 hits, 10 runs, 9 earned, 7 walks, 5 strikeouts, 152 pitches, 82 strikes.
The last two starts were not good ones for blog favorite Phil Hughes. To say he needs to give the Yankees at least six good innings tonight is an understatement.
Joe Girardi sounded borderline threatening last night when discussing the Franchise, saying the Yankees had to get some good outings of their youngsters or they would find somebody who would. Who that is, I’m not exactly sure. But you get the idea.
To his credit, Hughes is not in a panic. He’s been successful before and he knows he can be successful again. It’s pretty obvious he needs to establish his fastball early in counts and stop nibbling with his breaking stuff. He’s at his best when he challenges hitters.
If the Yankees ever get Hughes and Ian Kennedy on the same page as Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte, they can be a very good team. But you can’t forget that Hughes is one of the youngest players in the majors. You can’t expect gold every time.
But he clearly has to get back to the form he showed against Toronto on April 3 and that has to start tonight.
he is going to easily outpitch the O’s pitcher tonight, get the win and get back on track….
I heard about Girardi’s comments after the game and I totally agree with him.
Phil Hughes HAS to step up his game tonight and I believe he will. I think the cold was affecting him and I believe tonight we will see the good Phil Hughes similarly to how we saw the good Ian Kennedy when he pitched against the Rays earlier this week in the dome.
it’s your turn Philip how are you going to respond.
Not one of the youngest. He’s the second youngest and only by a few months. 21 in the majors….he’s bound to struggle.
They need to get some starts from the oldest veteran too and its not likely to happen.
if Hughes was farnsworth u think pete would be so kind???
When do we start getting worried about the Moose? I know it’s early but I am just totally not confident when hes taking the mound. If he has even the slightest problem with location, he’s is going to get hit hard.
You’re right about Hughes throwing the fastball. He’s been nibbling, and arguably has been getting squeezed by the umps.
Here’s hoping that he’s pitching from ahead in the count tonight.
Mike:
Please give me a list of everything Farnsworth has done as a Yankee that is deserving of respect. Is he really your idea of representing the franchise well? This is a guy who adjusts his crotch while walking off the mound and getting booed at Yankee Stadium.
But if he’s your guy, good for you I guess.
pete- stop crying about kyle farnsy ! he did what we need to do make manny nerveos at the plate!!! how many times was aror and jeter hit by the red sox! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!!!
Phil will undoubtedly have a better game than this (please refrain from Nasty Igawa Jokes):
Japanese high school lets up 66 runs
04.18.08 | Kawamoto Technical High School’s baseball team let up 66 runs in two innings — 26 in the first inning, 40 in the second, before calling it quits. It was one pitcher. Can anyone figure out his ERA?
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatrick/
mel – I guess there is no mercy rule in that league.
DurhamYankee …you were supposed to be with us worrying about Moose for the last full year….what is with you, man ??
i think its a 297 era? lol
one more thing Pete . you cant compare this story with roger last year ,because roger hit rios because they hit a-rod !but farnsy cant come out and say i wanted to hit manny bacause he hit 2 home runs of us.It doest work like that! I hope you understand the differance.
Keep Hughes far, far away from Mussina.
Al:
Here’s a thought, just don’t say anything. Giggling through a pack of lies is not the way to go.
This has been a good week for Yankees fan. They jeered LaTroy Hawkins to the point where he switched numbers and abandoned his personal tribute to Roberto Clemente. Then they cheered Kyle Farnsworth for throwing behind somebody’s head.
Maybe they should sign Barry Bonds too. I’m sure it’s just a big misunderstanding with him.
Pete,
Please give a list of everything Hughes has done as a Yankee. Farns has thrown more quality innings by far.
IF there was an intent to retaliate, Farnsworth would have hit him somewhere else. Unless he really has no control. lol.
IF there was intent, it’s for HBP that Jeter & Alex took. Not for hitting two homeruns that were served up on a silver platter. If that were the case, Moose shoulda been plunked.
ESPN headlines: “Manny’s monster homeruns annoy Yankees”. I didn’t bother reading the article. That headline said it all.
pete on that your right if the yanks sign a guy like bonds and he hit a home run! the fans will go nuts! btw i am a big suporter of the movment to sign manny and if he doesnt behave let him sit on the bench!! how goes the saying “IF YOU CANT BEET HIM, JOIN HIM”
I’m hoping for 20 innings of work from our starters this weekend.
I’m not getting off the Phil Hughes Bandwagon. He is going to struggle at times but, there is too much talent there not to have him come out on the other side.
You just have to deal with the ups and downs young pitchers go through. It goes with the territory.
“Japanese high school lets up 66 runs
04.18.08 | Kawamoto Technical High School’s baseball team let up 66 runs in two innings — 26 in the first inning, 40 in the second, before calling it quits. It was one pitcher. Can anyone figure out his ERA?”
That is disgusting and borderline criminal (on the part of the manager).
Japanese high school baseball needs a lot of work.
Pete, does the whole “step up or we’ll find someone who will” thing apply to Mussina as well? If he pitches to Manny one more time this season, he should be released.
Obviously, I’m exaggerating and I’m aware that guys like Wang and Mussina have had excellent to fair starts (respectively), but I feel like Girardi is jumping the gun a little early here as far as making threats towards the two guys’ positions with the big club.
Besides, who could they use to replace these two? Karstens? Rasner? Igawa? If that’s the case, it’s going to be a long season.
What’s Freddy Garcia up to these days?
Patrick
“Please give a list of everything Hughes has done as a Yankee. Farns has thrown more quality innings by far.”
I would guess that Hughes 7 innings of no hit ball alone would be able to top Farnworthless’ whole Yankee career as far as a list of quality innings go.
Need I bring up the month of September or Hughes getting the only win in the playoffs?
Farnsworth? After checking the replay, will not give him props. I don’t like manny, at all. However, you cannot purposefuly take an opposing player’s career, in your own hands. Knock a player down = fine. Throw a fastball at the head = no.
beat writers really shouldn’t be playing favorites. U r not a columnist. Ur supposed to be objective pete. We all get it. U hate farnsworth. Fantastic
whoever jumps off the hughes bus should turn in there fan card asap
Phil can and will do well tonight.
I believe in the child!
I think Phil needs to get his old number back… 34 isn’t working for him!
i have to say im ashamed of yankee fans when i hear this kind of crap. there is no defending farnsworth, he’s a punk and on top of that, he sucks.
what i see on here alot and at the stadium all the time is that alot of people who call themselves yankee fans arent actually baseball fans.
Facing the Orioles should be a ready cure for whatever’s been ailing Hughes. He’ll spin a good one tonight.
Phil, take your time
According to On the DL, Phil and Mussina are playing like crap because of broken hearts:
“Crossword Time:
1 Across: Nine-letters; emotional pain or distress brought on by a recent breakup
The two sexy pitchers (one of them cute and boyish, the other seasoned and handsome) featured in this item play for the same AL East team. Our insider tells us that they’re good friends, with one of them serving as a mentor to the other. Both have suffered relatively recent breakups with their significant others; the older with his illicit mistress and the younger with his girlfriend. Supposedly, the recent decline of the grizzled veteran’s skills is not only due to aging, but also due to his heartache over losing his long-time woman on the side (we were the first to report this relationship years ago). On the other hand, the younger pitcher is harnessing the despair from his own breakup, caused in part by problems between his over-bearing mother and gorgeous ex, and transforming it into positive energy. He looks more ready than ever to take on other teams and finally lead his boys to their first title in a handful of years.
Just who is our *Heartache* Duo? That’s for you to figure out!”
If Hughes struggles today and they send him down it would be a total joke! He has already proved that he can blow through minor league lineups. The only way he’ll learn to deal with major league lineups is to pitch to major league lineups. Most of us realized that with the kids pitching that we may have to sacrifice this year for the greater good of the franchise. Sending him down now Igawa can pitch is the worst thing that could possibly happen. Igawa would be just as bad and Hughes would be spinning his wheels in AAA.
should of gotten santana.
Cashman pulled a brainfart, i hope hes gone when this team doesnt make the playoffs or past the first round.
as I stated in the previous thread, I think it’s ridiculous for Joe to be putting this kind of pressure on Phil. After two starts? IMO, this is ALL on the Yankees for putting two “rookies” (I know Phil isn’t technically one) in the rotation and then expecting them to shoulder a lion’s share of the load. It seems that Joe is preaching patience for Phil and then he goes out and does the opposite – almost threatening Phil to have a good game. Oh, that’s a good idea – put the pressure upon him when he’s struggling because that’s going to help him. I love Joe, but this upsets me very much. I do not think Phil needs to be sent down and I think it would be the very worst thing for his development, but if the Yankees can not handle having him in the rotation and if they are not willing to show the proper patience, then yes……send him down. Think Cashman would agree with the way Joe is “threatening” Phil? Ugh, this ticks me off.
For the millionth time, unless it gets to the point where it’s considered emotionally detrimental to him, he needs to take his lumps at the major league level. I don’t see how going back to facing AAA pitching is going to benefit him.
To take steps forward, you need to be willing to take steps back. This team has to be given the license by its fans to do that when needed.
It’s not the time for ultimatums, and I disagree with Girardi here. it speaks of a possible desperation that shouldn’t really be there at this point.
Clay Bucholz has stuff just as good as Hughes and isn’t looking a million bucks either right now. Ian has struggled. Joba will struggle when transitioned. It’s a struggle worth getting through.
SJ44, what do you think about Joe’s “threats” to Phil? I personally am very surprised and as you can see, very upset.
Classic overreaction by everyone… I would love to hear these “borderline” threatening comments in context. Media wants a story and here we go… Where is your little recorder when we actually need it?
how about threatening Mike Mussina’s job after not understanding how to pitch to a guy who hits him well after 20 years of pitching professionally. Hughes would just throw up and inside.
I personally agree. Mussina was pulled last year after 3 straight horrible starts and the same thing should happen to Phil if he can’t get it going for the 3rd straight start. He was rushed in the first place and should still be in AAA developing his changeup, as far as I’m concerned, although that certainly has nothing to do with his complete lack of control and command which both seem to have evaporated into thin air.
I want to clarify as I did last night, the “minor league” comment didn’t come from Girardi. It came from David Cone who was speculating on what Joe meant by “Phil needs to step up” and what Joe might do if Phil doesn’t pitch well and go deep tonight. That was just Coney’s take, Joe himself never made any threat, at least I didn’t hear it.
Betsey,
No need to be upset. But I realize it’s this kind of loyalty and passion that make Yankees fans so great, so I understand. I’m optimistic Phil will have a big game. Weather will be ideal and he’s a really tough guy, he’ll pull through. And I have enough confidence in Joe to think he won’t be stupid enough to overact and send Phil down. If he can give Farnsworth second third fourth whatever chances, he’ll have patience for Phil. So I’m not worried.