The LoHud Yankees Blog

A converted outfielder, Wilkin De La Rosa moved to the mound in 2007 and has pitched his way onto the Yankees 40-man roster. He’s slated to work as a starter in Double-A this season — and the Yankees will give him every chance to stay in the rotation — but he could get on the fast track as a left-handed reliever. And it’s Wilkin, not Wilkins. “With no S,” he said.

How did you find out that the Yankees wanted to make you a pitcher?
De La Rosa: I had been playing in the New York-Penn League. After the season, when I got back to the Dominican, they called me and said the team wanted to try me on the mound, and I said, let’s see what I can do. I just said yes… I had to learn another part of the game, mentally especially. I had to practice something that I did not know. I got in this, and I feel in more control now.

Had you pitched before? Did you pitch as a kid?
De La Rosa: No. I never pitched. I always liked to be a position player, so that’s what I did when I was a kid. I played third base and outfield. I always had a good arm.

Did you start just throwing fastballs, just trying to throw strikes?
De La Rosa: I just started with fastballs. In my sides, everything was fastballs. When I came to the mound, my first inning was just fastballs to see how I could handle this. And then I established my breaking ball.

Was a breaking ball harder to figure out?
De La Rosa: For me it was a little hard, because I had never done it before. I just worked hard on that stuff. The pitching coach in the Dominican told me that I was working so hard, so that has helped me out a lot. I was with a pitching coach from the Dominican Summer League… I tried a curveball first, but they switched me and told me I had to throw a slider.

Do you miss hitting?
De La Rosa: A lot. When I started pitching, that was so hard for me because I had been hitting the whole time, my whole life, but I feel comfortable now. I’m just going to be working hard.

I occasionally get very random links emailed to me. Some are stories. Some are entries on other blogs. Some, it turns out, are hilarious videos of Joe Girardi and Jorge Posada trying to film a commercial for DirecTV. Here’s the story that explains the commercial itself.

Speaking of television, John Flaherty is being honored with the Halligan-McGuire Irish American Sports Good Guy Award. Here’s the press release…

Two beloved New York sports figures of Irish American heritage who recently passed away will be remembered at a St. Patrick’s week benefit luncheon. On Monday afternoon, March 15, at 12:00 noon at Gallagher’s Steak House in New York City, Dick McGuire, the legendary St. John’s and New York Knicks star and NBA Hall of Famer, and John Halligan, the Rangers and NHL public relations executive, historian and author, will be honored with the creation of the “Halligan-McGuire Irish American Sports Good Guy Awards.” John Flaherty, YES Network analyst and former Yankee; Janet Halligan, John’s loving wife of 41 years; Teri McGuire, Dick’s loving wife of 54 years; and Dave Maloney, the former Ranger and 1050 ESPN Radio Rangers analyst, will be the inaugural honorees at the luncheon to benefit Fordham University.

Tickets are priced at $75, and include a three course luncheon menu and a donation. For information and tickets call Cirillo World at 212-972-5337 or email johnnycigarpr@aol.com. Gallagher’s Steak House is located at 228 West 52nd Street (between Broadway and Eighth Avenue) in New York City (212.245.5336).

New York City native Flaherty enters his sixth season on the YES Network broadcast lineup as studio analyst and game analyst for Yankees telecasts. Though Flaherty was drafted by Boston in 1988, he is perhaps best known to Yankees fans for his 2004 pinch-hit walk-off single that ended a 13-inning regular season game against his former team, the Red Sox. In the 2005 season, he became Yankees ace Randy Johnson’s catcher, in addition to backing up Jorge Posada. Flaherty played in over 1,000 games during 14 Major League seasons.

Francisco Cervelli will be checked out again on Sunday, and he’ll see a neurologist on Monday. Depending on how those two appointments go, Cervelli could be back in the lineup by the middle of next week.

“Maybe Tuesday or Wednesday, but I’m not going to rush it,” Joe Girardi said.

This is Cervelli’s second concussion in the past four months. He also had one in November when he was hit in the head by a bat during winter ball. He was catching and the batter got him on the left side of his head, right where today’s pitch from Zech Zinicola landed.

Here’s Cervelli talking about his noggin.

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That’s Jesus Montero in the picture, but Girardi said this afternoon that his No. 3 catcher is Mike Rivera. If this Cervelli situation proves worse than expected, it’s Rivera who would likely open the season on the Yankees bench.

“He has big league experience,” Girardi said. “He knows what the job entails. That’s why we went out and got him.”

Rivera has been in the big leagues each of the past four years, and he was in the big leagues for parts of three seasons before that. He has a higher career batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage than Jose Molina.

Here’s the Girardi audio.

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• Jorge Posada on A.J. Burnett’s changeup: “He’s starting it down, that’s the big thing. He’s finishing it well. There was one of them that was up, hit off the end of the bat, but I thought he did a great job.”

• Change of plans for tomorrow’s travel squad. Cervelli (obviously) will not go. Instead, Rivera will go to catch Gaudin and Mitre. Amaury Sanit will also not travel after getting in today’s game.

• Another nice outing from Boone Logan, who pitched two hitless innings and retired three lefties: Lyle Overbay, Jeremy Reed and Travis Snider. After his four-up, four-down debut — also retiring three lefties — he’s making a strong case (but a very early case) for a spot in New York.

• Mark Melancon also looked awfully good again today, so did Jason Hirsh. Both finished off strikeouts with good curveballs. Oh, and don’t sleep on Kevin Russo, who had another hit and made a nice diving play at second.

• Dave Eiland confirmed that Mariano Rivera, Damaso Marte and Chan Ho Park will each throw a batting practice session on Monday. They are the only pitchers in camp who have not faced live hitters.

• Andy Pettitte has a two-inning simulated game tomorrow morning and will move forward as if he pitched in a real game. “It will count as his first start,” Eiland said.

• If you missed it in the game post, Nick Johnson took batting practice this morning and felt good after. “I took a few swings in the cage,” he said. “Felt loose.”

• I don’t want to make a big deal of it, but Kei Igawa did pitch well yesterday and this afternoon Girardi said he couldn’t rule out the idea of Igawa creating a place for himself as a left-handed reliever. Just throwing it out there.

When he came out of today’s game, A.J. Burnett stood in the clubhouse and talked about his changeup for several minutes before anyone asked why he suddenly decided to use it after he’s had success without it.

“I don’t feel like I’ve had the success that I should have,” he said. “I’m a .500 pitcher and there’s a reason behind that. I know I’ve battled injuries in the past, but over three-quarters of my career I’m a two-pitch pitcher, so there’s got to be some theory behind it. Why not learn another pitch? It’s only going to help.”

Burnett guessed that he threw 10 changeups today. The bloop single was on a changeup, but the other hits were fastballs. Burnett said he’ll probably make one more start throwing only changeups and fastball. He’ll be throwing curveballs on the side, but not yet in games.

“I guess it just doesn’t take me long to find it,” he said.

At that point, Burnett abruptly walked away to knock on the wooden frame of a locker. Guess you can never be too careful. Here’s the Burnett audio.

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YANKEES
Jeter SS
Granderson CF
Posada C
Rodriguez 3B
Winn RF
Gardner LF
Cervelli DH
Miranda 1B
Pena 2B

RHP A.J. Burnett (13-9, 4.04 in 2009)

BLUE JAYS
Bautista 3B
Hill 2B
Lind DH
Wells CF
Overbay 1B
Reed RF
Gonzalez SS
Snider LF
Molina C

RHP Shaun Marcum (did not pitch in 2009)

TIME/TV: 1:05 p.m., MY9/WCBS

WEATHER: Should be sunny, and maybe a little warmer than yesterday. It’s slowly starting to feel like Florida down here, and the forcast calls for the mid-60s. I’d bet on plenty of wind, too.

UMPIRES: HP Andy Fletcher, 1B Eric Cooper, 2B Marty Foster, 3B Paul Emmel

ON THE LINE: The fifth-starter candidates have the day off, but A.J. Burnett will be making his debut and working on a changeup that he plans to throw a little more often this season. Should be interesting to see just how often he throws it and how well he throws it.

BACK ON THE MOUND: Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum missed all of last season with an elbow injury. Marcum pitched pretty well for the Blue Jays a few years ago and could become a key part of their rotation now that Roy Halladay is gone.

FAMILIAR FACES: A note from the Yankees PR department: Of the 66 players in camp, 37 were either originally drafted or signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Yankees, 23 played in at least one game for New York last season and 27 have appeared in a game with the Yankees at some point in their careers.

THEY’RE BACK: The four players in camp who played for the Yankees in the past, but not in 2009: Javier Vazquez, Nick Johnson, Marcus Thames and Kei Igawa.

UPDATE, 8:06 a.m.: Andrew Brackman is scheduled to make his spring debut today. Jonathan Albaladejo, Boone Logan, Mark Melancon, Jason Hirsh, Romulo Sanchez and Amaury Sanit are also available out of the bullpen.

UPDATE, 9:10 a.m.: A few notes from this morning.

• Jamie Hoffmann is scheduled to get his first turn in center field this afternoon. Scheduled to play off the bench: C Mike Rivera, 1B Jorge Vazquez, 2B Kevin Russo, SS Eduardo Nunez, 3B Brandon Laird, LF Colin Curtis, CF Hoffmann, RF David Winfree, DH Austin Romine.

• Sunday’s pitchers: Sergio Mitre, Chad Gaudin, Kei Igawa, Wilkins Arias, D.J. Mitchell, Ryan Pope, Amaury Sanit, Kevin Whelan. Obviously they’re making a lot of the young guys make the long trip to Fort Myers.

• Position players not making the trip on Sunday: Posada, Rivera, Romine, Jeter, Johnson, Rodriguez, Granderson and Winn.

• Christian Garcia is throwing a bullpen today and is scheduled to make his spring debut on Monday. Other pitchers throwing side sessions today: CC Sabathia, Zack Segovia, Zach McAllister and Ivan Nova.

• Mariano Rivera and Damaso Marte got up to 30 pitches in the bullpen yesterday. They’re scheduled to pitch again on Monday. “I think next time is a BP,” Rivera said.

UPDATE, 9:12 a.m.: Forgot to mention, today is Francisco Cervelli’s 24th birthday.

UPDATE, 9:27 a.m.: It’s a few days old, but I just saw it this morning. According to the Can-Am League’s site, the Yankees have signed independent leaguer Myron Leslie to a minor league deal. Leslie played in the Oakland organization until last year. He plays all four corners and has shown some power in the past. He could be a utility guy for either Trenton or Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

UPDATE, 9:54 a.m.: Welcome back Jose Molina, who’s starting at catcher for the Blue Jays. Catching prospects Travis D’Arnaud and J.P. Arencibia also made this trip, as did pitching prospect, Zach Jackson. Watch first baseman Brian Dopirak if he gets in the game. He was once a significant prospect with the Cubs, and he’s starting to get some of his luster back with the Blue Jays. Huge power. Some of the minor league pitchers were talking about him the other day, hoping he’d make this trip. Apparently he looks terrifying, but he’s one of the nicest guys in the game.

UPDATE, 12:56 p.m.: Not a cloud in the sky as we’re getting ready for the first pitch here in Tampa. Checked in with Nick Johnson earlier: “Took a few swings,” he said. “Felt loose.”

UPDATE, 1:40 p.m.: Burnett’s day is done after an inning and a third. He could have gotten through this second inning, but allowed two-out base hits to Jose Bautista and Aaron Hill. TV had his fastball at 94-95, which is pretty impressive for his first spring start. I’ll be interested to hear what he says about the changeup.

Amaury Sanit is in to finish the second.

UPDATE, 1:46 p.m.: Burnett threw 36 pitches, 24 for strikes. That’s better than either Hughes or Chamberlain did yesterday.

UPDATE, 2:01 p.m.: I don’t remember him making an especially dazzling play this spring, but Ramiro Pena continues to show he’s a nice glove man all around the infield. Kevin Russo had some good at-bats yesterday, and I remain a big Russo believer, but the utility job does seem to be Pena’s to lose.

UPDATE, 2:24 p.m.: Just got back from the clubhouse where A.J. Burnett said he was happy with the changeup. He estimated that he threw 10 of them, and used them to lefties and righties. He basically threw a changeup whenever he wanted to throw a curveball.

Still no update on Francisco Cervelli, who was hit in the head by a fastball just as the clubhouse was opening for us to talk to Burnett. Should have an update on him soon.

UPDATE, 2:27 p.m.: Cervelli has a concussion and will undergo a precautionary CT Scan.

UPDATE, 2:34 p.m.: Brandon Laird is in at third and Reegie Corona is in at short. Jonathan Albaladejo is in to pitch.

UPDATE, 2:38 p.m.: Walking around the clubhouse, Jonathan Albaladejo looks terrific. He’s lost a lot of weight and said he feels much better when the team is running, but on the mound he’s really struggled in each of his appearances.

UPDATE, 2:49 p.m.: What a brutal, brutal, brutal third of an inning for Albaladejo. He faced the entire Blue Jays lineup, and his only out was a line drive that was drilled into Juan Miranda’s glove. He’s already charged with five runs, and the bases are loaded. In spring training, there’s no coming back from an outing like this. His ERA is going to be terrible all spring.

Mark Melancon is in to try to clean up the mess.

UPDATE, 2:55 p.m.: Good work by Melancon.

UPDATE, 3:04 p.m.: Curtis in left, Hoffmann in center, Winfree in right, Russo at second, Vazquez at first and P.J. Pilittere catching. Mike Rivera was listed as today’s backup catcher, but Pilittere is getting the nod. I wonder if Rivera might now go to tomorrow’s road game to catch Gaudin and Mitre.

UPDATE, 3:18 p.m.: Colin Curtis with a ground-rule double to left. It’s all about making an impression for Curtis, and so far he’s done that. I don’t think he can make this team out of camp, but he can do enough to make Joe Girardi want to call on him if/when the Yankees need a spare outfielder.

UPDATE, 3:22 p.m.: Andrew Brackman now pitching. Should be fun.

UPDATE, 3:28 p.m.: Or maybe it won’t be so fun. That was J.P. Arencibia’s second home run of the spring.

UPDATE, 4:43 p.m.: Just talked to Cervelli. Tests came back negative. He’s dizzy and has a headache, but he should be OK. “Rest a couple of days and be back,” he said.

Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain made their spring debuts on Friday, and it was Hughes who won Round One of the rotation competition. Chamberlain, though, could be given a mulligan for his not-so-pretty inning and a third.

In the game, Curtis Granderson went hitless, but he did have two good at-bats against left-handed pitchers, which is exactly what he needs this spring. The notebook also has items on Nick Johnson, A.J. Burnett, Kevin Russo and another spring loss.

From the news section of The Journal News comes word of an independent league team coming to Rockland County.

Andrew Brackman missed all of 2008 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, then he struggled to a 5.91 ERA in his first professional season in 2009. This spring, though, Brackman has wowed coaches with improved command of his mid-90s two-seamer and hammer curveball. His changeup remains a developing third pitch, but he can throw it effectively and could jump on the fast track if he continues to make strides.

Coaches seem impressed with your bullpen sessions so far. What’s different from last year?
Brackman: I don’t know what it is from last year to this year. I mean, the only thing that’s changed has been my weight. I lost some weight. But everything is moving really good and smooth, mechanics and everything. It’s just starting to feel like college again.

Is it as simple as being further removed from the Tommy John surgery?
Brackman: I think that’s all it is. It doesn’t feel like it’s strange out there any more. It doesn’t feel strange to be on the mound. It doesn’t feel strange to be throwing. I guess it’s coming back naturally.

Was that a scary thing last year when it didn’t feel natural?
Brackman: Oh yeah, it sucked. It was just, you sometimes start thinking, will it ever come back? Will I have to pitch this way and make do? I guess it’s just repetition and experience.

I remember when Randy Johnson retired this winter, he talked a lot about the difficulty of finding his mechanics, being so tall. Is that a tricky thing for you to keep all of that in order?
Brackman: It never was before the surgery. It never was. I never had a problem with it. I guess that year of just sitting out, I just had to get everything back together. That year that I took off – not really took off, I was rehabbing – but that year away from competition and away from pitching in games, I just had to get back in the groove of things and get used to it again.

Signed out of college and put right onto the 40-man, do you put pressure on yourself to make this happen sooner rather than later?
Brackman: I did last year. I feel like I put a lot of pressure on myself. This year, I’m just going to go out there like I have nothing to lose because it couldn’t get any worse than last year.

Joba Chamberlain: “My delivery was good. I was just kind of getting back in the swing of things being gone for two or three days. You can forget how quick things lose you.”

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Phil Hughes: “Dave told me afterward that was the best he’s seen me throw a changeup. I think I left one up in the zone, all the other ones were at least thigh-high or lower, so I was real happy with that.”

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Joe Girardi: “We felt (Chamberlain) was healthy enough to pitch, and you want him to pitch because you want him to develop that arm strength, but you really don’t know physically how he felt.”

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Joe Girardi said he didn’t read anything into Joba Chamberlain’s struggles this afternoon. Chamberlain woke up sick on Tuesday and has thrown only a light bullpen since then. The Yankees weren’t worried about him hurting himself, so they decided to get him in a game — which Chamberlain said he wanted — but the results speak for themselves.

“I’m not going to make too much of it,” Girardi said. “You wonder how much he had his legs under him after being sick for a few days.”

There were some good things from Phil Hughes, who estimated that he threw eight or nine changeups, including three in a row to Ben Zobrist. He also threw a good one for a strike to B.J. Upton. His fastball command, though, wasn’t great.

Then again, that was a fairly common problem for the Yankees today.

“We didn’t throw strikes,” Girardi said. “That’s why they got an 11-spot.”

• Nick Johnson told the Yankees that he could play today and tomorrow, but Girardi said he will likely have Johnson sit until Monday. He’ll take batting practice tomorrow.

• Nick Swisher’s right wrist is OK. It hit the ground when he dove back to first base on that snap throw from the catcher. He was checked on the field, but Girardi said he’s fine.

• Andy Pettitte, Javier Vazquez, Mariano Rivera, Damaso Marte, Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre, Alfredo Aceves and Chan Ho Park each threw side sessions today.

• Curtis Granderson had no hits to show for it, but he had two solid at-bats against left-handed pitchers. He was happy to face Carlos Hernandez in his last at-bat because it gave him more vs.-LHP data to analyze. Granderson said he saw four-seamers, sinkers, cutters and a slurvy curveball from the left side today. “I’ve got to see it all,” he said.

• Good inning from Dave Robertson: Three-up, three-down, ending with a Fernando Perez strikeout on a fastball.

• After sitting out the past two days with a flu-like illness, Kevin Russo finally got in a game today and went 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI double.

YANKEES
Jeter SS
Granderson CF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Posada DH
Thames LF
Cano 2B
Swisher, RF
Cervelli C

RHP Phil Hughes (8-3, 3.03 in 2009)

RAYS
Bartlett SS
Rodriguez LF
Longoria 3B
Zobrist 2B
Upton CF
Navarro C
Johnson DH
Rugiano RF
Richard 1B

LHP David Price (10-7, 4.42 in 2009)

TIME/TV: 1:05 p.m., YES Network

WEATHER: Temperatures could get into the 60s and the sun is supposed to be shining through a few clouds this afternoon. It’s been windy the past few days, and today shouldn’t be an exception.

UMPIRES: HP Marty Foster, 1B Mark Carlson, 2B Andy Fletcher, 3B Chad Fairchild

ON THE LINE: This will be the first spring appearance for both Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, the top candidates for the final spot in the rotation. Hughes will start, with Chamberlain scheduled to pitch right after him.

NO NICK: After feeling some stiffness in his lower back yesterday, Nick Johnson is likely out of the mix for this game.

THREE FOR THREE? Brett Gardner, Jamie Hoffmann and Ramiro Pena were the only Yankees to start each of the first two spring training games. They started in different positions each time.

PRICE IS RIGHT: Rays starter David Price was 7-7 before winning three of his final four starts last season. His last start of the year was a win against the Yankees. He allowed two hits in seven innings. Phil Hughes also pitched in that game and allowed three hits in one-third of an inning.

UPDATE, 9:23 a.m.: A few notes from the clubhouse.

• Nick Johnson can still feel the stiffness in his back, but “very little.” He did some exercises to loosen the muscles this morning. “After those exercises, it loosened up pretty good,” he said.

• Kevin Russo is scheduled to play today after missing the past two days because of an illness.

• Elliot Johnson is part of the traveling roster for the Rays. He’s the guy who slammed into Francisco Cervelli and broke his wrist two years ago.

• Highly touted prospects Tim Beckham, Jeremy Hellickson and Reid Brignac are also with the Rays today. Desmond Jennings is not.

• Scheduled to come off the Yankees bench: C Jesus Montero, 1B Juan Miranda, 2B Reegie Corona, SS Eduardo Nunez, 3B Kevin Russo, LF Reid Gorecki, CF Greg Golson, RF Jon Weber, DH Jorge Vazquez. At some point this season, that could very well be the starting lineup for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

UPDATE, 10:40 a.m.: With David Price starting for Tampa Bay, Curtis Granderson should get at least one more at-bat against a left-handed pitcher. He needs to get more and more so that he can re-evaluate his offseason progress against them.

“As of right now I’ve had eight total pitches against a left-handed pitcher since I’ve been here,” he said. “I can’t take anything good or bad out of these eight (pitches) considering I’m not ready to go and those pitchers aren’t ready to go. Everybody is working on stuff right now just trying to get themselves ready to go, and once we get enough at-bats in and they get enough innings in, then we’ll be able to have a little better evaluation.”

Granderson saw three pitches from lefty Paul Maholm in the spring opener, and he saw five pitches from Kei Igawa during live batting practice.

UPDATE, 12:44 p.m.: It’s actually a pretty nice day for a game. The wind is still blowing, but it’s a little warmer than it was the past two days. A few players have been called to the front of the home dugout to have pictures taken (bat on their shoulder, frozen after a swing, taking a knee, that sort of thing). Right now it’s Greg Golson’s turn. They must feel a little bit ridiculous doing this in front of a few thousand people.

UPDATE, 1:14 p.m.: Sean Rodriguez is fighting for a job with the Rays, and he just took Hughes deep for his third home run of the spring. The wind might have helped carry the ball out to center field. It was just barely over the wall.

UPDATE, 1:37 p.m.: That’s probably it for Hughes. 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR. A lot of hard hit balls in the air, but he also threw a nice changeup to Ben Zobrist.

UPDATE, 1:51 p.m.: Nick Swisher was checked on the field after an odd collision with Chris Richard at first base. The catcher made a snap throw to first and caught Swisher off the base, but in the dive back to the bag, Swisher kind of collided with Richard and stayed on the ground for a while. After a long conversation with the medical staff and Joe Girardi, Swisher stayed in the game.

UPDATE, 1:54 p.m.: Television replays suggest it was Swisher right wrist that was hurt, but he’s still in there playing right field. Chamberlain is pitching.

UPDATE, 1:56 p.m.: Chamberlain is struggling but just got bailed out by a great play from Robinson Cano, salvaging a bad snap throw from Francisco Cervelli and turning it into an out at second. A colleague just described it as “Robby Alomar play.”

UPDATE, 2:10 p.m.: Cervelli gets revenge for the broken wrist of two years ago by stretching a double into a triple. Great hustle on that play.

UPDATE, 2:23 p.m.: Chamberlain’s day is done after a ground-rule double that sent Nick Swisher tumbling into the bullpen. Kevin Whelan in to pitch.

Not a very good day for Chamberlain. Two triples, a double and three walks. Three earned runs so far, and two of his runners still on the bases.

UPDATE, 2:37 p.m.: Hughes: 33 pitches, 18 strikes. Chamberlain: 33 pitches, 14 strikes.

UPDATE, 2:41 p.m.: Kei Igawa in from the bullpen to save the day, getting Ben Zobrist and B.J. Upton in order to strand the bases loaded. Who called it?

UPDATE, 3:12 p.m.: Chamberlain just estimated that he was at 60 or 70 percent today. He threw a short bullpen on Wednesday, but otherwise hasn’t worked out in three days. That might have played a part in today’s outing. Or maybe it was just an early spring game with him still trying to find his stride. Or maybe he was just bad today.

UPDATE, 3:22 p.m.: Cervelli: “Next time, they will hit my glove. Don’t worry.”

UPDATE, 4:24 p.m.: The writers have now been in the clubhouse for well over an hour. It’s hard to follow the game too closely from down here, but it was fun to stand with Christian Garcia and watch R.J. Swindle flip super slow curveballs.

Phil Hughes told us he was happy with his offspeed stuff today, especially his changeup, but his fastball command was bad. He threw three straight changeups to Ben Zobrist.

UPDATE, 4:45 p.m.: That’s it. The game got slower than a Swindle curveball in the late innings, and ended with a 12-7 Yankees loss. Getting Girardi in a few minutes.