Yankees postgame/concern for Hughes
Posted by: Brian Heyman - Posted in Misc on Apr 03, 2011 
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Phil Hughes’ substandard velocity was a big topic after the Yankees’ 10-7 loss to the Tigers. In fact, new pitching coach Larry Rothschild sounded a bit worried.
“There’s going to be concern until you see it,” Rothschild said. “That’s just natural. … When you get going and you start to see the velocity, then you can relax a little bit. But until then, we’ll try to figure out if there’s any routine that works for him.”
Hughes was at 88-90 mph during spring training. Joe Girardi said he was usually at 93-94 last season when he won 18 games. But in this game, the 24-year-old righty’s fastball was mostly at 89-90. Hughes thinks it’s just that he still needs to build more arm strength. The second of the two long two-run homers to left he served up to Miguel Cabrera actually was off an 88 mph fastball.
“It was there at the end of the season and I feel fine, so I have no issues with thinking that it won’t be there,” Hughes said. “But right now, it’s just not. … Seeing in the first inning I was like 90, which is not where I need to be. I need to be like 92, 93. So it’s a little disconcerting right now, but I’ll take these next few starts and see where it’s at and evaluate from there.”
Lousy location didn’t help, either. Hughes tried the adjusted slider-like cutter he has been trying to perfect against Cabrera in the first and Cabrera crushed it for the first home. Hughes still thinks it’s going to be a good pitch for him.
“It has to be located, obviously,” Hughes said. “A hanging breaking ball is never a good pitch. So when it’s down in the zone, it’s good for me. But when they’re just spinning out over the plate, it’s a pretty hittable pitch.”
Cabrera is now 7 for 14 with three homers against Hughes. But Cabrera hits a lot of pitchers hard.
“He’s just got a great approach and he’s got a great idea how to hit, and he’s strong and he’s got bat speed,” said Girardi, who managed him in Florida. “That’s a dangerous combination.”
Mark Teixeira, meanwhile, sent up his third homer. The usually slow-starting first baseman is just the second in franchise history to homer in each of the first three games. Dave Winfield did it in 1983 at the now dear-departed Kingdome in Seattle. All of Teixeira’s homers have been from the left side, the side he hit .245 from last season, but the side he has really worked to improve on since then.
“Just swinging a lot more left-handed this offseason,” Teixeira said. “Last year was just a tough year. It was a bad year. I’ve had a little bit of success in my career. I’m just trying to get back to what I’ve done.
“Hard work pays off, sometimes not as quickly as this. I feel great personally that I’ve been able to get off to a good start. But the key is to continue it.”
The Yankees have set a franchise record with nine homers through three games, better than the eight the 1932 and 1981 teams posted. Six Yankees have homered so far.
The team opens a four-game series against the visiting Twins Monday night, with Ivan Nova and Scott Baker scheduled to start.
Thank you Phil for being there for us. We were really starting to miss Javy Vazquez.
I don’t think Phil was at 93/94 to start the season, but while last ST his velocity was down, it definitely picked up – starting with the Minny game when Denard Span hit his mom with a foul ball. He shouldn’t be throwing 88 MPH fastballs at this point – I wonder if the fact that he started throwing bullpens early hurt? In any case, he did have a heavy workload last year compared to 2009 – that’s the price the Yankees may be paying now for keeping him in the pen.
I’ve no idea if the new pitch will be good for him, but Phil needs to regain his plus curve and come up with a decent change that he will use more than 2 or 3 times a game (curve should come first).
As vital as AJ is to our success, that’s how vital Phil is.
Just curious why he’d still be having to build up that much arm strength at this point……
In any case, Tex looks phenomenal. This lineup is going to be something special, esp. if Martin hits
Hughes is never going to be as good as he should or could be til he learns how to incorporate offspeed pitches effectively.
He is to predictable just firing fastball after fastball.
Mo has the best cutter ever but if he became a starting pitcher & tried to use it only,the league would eventually start hitting it.
Hughes scares the crap out of me because of him not being able to develope offspeed pitches yet,especially the changeup wich is probably the most pitcher friendly pitch .
More & more pitchers are using the changeup because it is easy on the arm & is an amazingly effective weapon.
I think Phil is an overhyped Yankee. His talent doesn’t match the talk surrounding him. There are no excuses. His stuff has been getting tattooed since last June. Either he gets new stuff or he never becomes the ace people made him out to be. Between Joba, Phil and Ian Kennedy, it’s truly disappointing what ultimately happened to them. Joba is a middle reliever, Phil a bottom rotation starter and Ian Kennedy an NL pitcher. Denial can only sustain for so long and eventually you just have to accept disappointment.
I don’t want to pp on everyone’s cornflakes…so on a brighter note…I’m really looking forward to Ivan Nova this year. I think his talent has been underrated and his pitching has been developed better than those other guys. Nova will be crucial for us this year and if Phil continues like this, a trade for a starter is imminent, even if Burnett excels.
it’s the job of two people-Hughes and Rothschild, to figure out the issue with his fastball and make the corrections, no amount of amateur analysis is going or complaining is going to resolve anything.
My only input is that he probably spend too much time worrying about his secondary pitches in spring training, he needs to get back to his reliance on a fastball with command to be successful.
Hughes needs to stop watching hockey and dedicate time obsessively to his pitching craft a la Roy Halladay. Just kidding… kind of.
Many pitchers don’t get the feel of the change – it happens – but he still should be throwing it more than 3 or 4 times a game. His curve is the bigger concern; he used to have a plus curve, but now it’s so inconsistent.
I’m a wait and watch kind of guy. Let’s see what develops over the next several outings without going nuts here. If there’s a problem, let them figure it out. If there isn’t, well even better. But no use trying to analyze something they haven’t even figured out yet (problem, no problem.) Let it be.
If Phil needs to work on some things, we have a multitude of pitchers who can help out in the meantime. To quote my dad, it isn’t a problem unless you make it one.
Let it be
let it be
let it be
let it be
whisper words of widsom
let it be
Let it be
let it be
let it be
let it be
yeah there will be an answer
let it be.
Still too early to be worried about Phil.
I think he’ll beuch better the next time out. Everything was up. Maybe he was opening up too early?
I don’t usually second guess Girardi, but I will today. I would have let Phil pitch the 5th. I would have taken Colon out after the single and the walk in the 6th. And I would have pinch hit for Gardner in the 8th.
In his first start of the season in 2010 Phil’s average fastball velocity was 92.1, which means he was throwing pitches that ranged anywhere from 91-94. That’s basically where his velocity was all year; for the season his average fastball velo was 92.6.
One thing to keep in mind though, his first start of the season was 4/15, almost two weeks later than it was this year. Maybe his arm just isn’t strong enough yet?
I’m not really going to worry about his velocity until mid-late April. If he’s still throwing 88-90 I will be pretty worried but not until then.
For now, the thing that bothers me is his new cutter and the frequency he throws it. The “cutter” he threw today was completely different than the one we saw last year and the one we saw at the end of spring training. He has to figure that pitch out and work on his pitch selection.
Just think what kind of player the Yanks could have gotten for a package of Hughes, Joba and Kennedy a few years ago. What did each end up as?
Hughes looks like a number 4 or 5 guy.
Joba is a pedestrian middle reliever.
Kennedy is a 4 or 5 guy, too.
If Montero or one of the “B”s can get you proven talent, do it.
“it’s the job of two people-Hughes and Rothschild, to figure out the issue with his fastball and make the corrections, no amount of amateur analysis is going or complaining is going to resolve anything.”
Oh my God yes.
I think you might call this the second time you’ve agreed with me on something (see my post before this one) though the truth is we’ve agreed on a lot more than that.
How long are we going to have to hear about Hughes having to work on his pitch selection? Or how he has to work on his secondary pitches?
It’s pretty obvious the guy was flat out overrated.
I don’t think a curveball needs to come first.
Hughes is basically surviving on mostly fastballs or variations of one.
What he needs is a pitch or two that are at different speeds.
Throwing to all 4 corners of the plate/changing eye levels is just not enough.
The problem with hughes is when his fastball/cutter are not working he has absolutely nothing else to go to.
I’d like to see him scrap that knuckle curve & go with the great one he had,then at all costs develope a changeup.
I think nova might be better this year.
Patrick – your fantasy team is DISGUSTING!
mypalfish, and what would you be saying about AJ right now if he had fallen on his face? Game-by-game analysis is for children.
You’re right Trisha. Patrick’s fantasy team is unreal!
MG – you’re apparently going to get the amateur analysis whether you want it or not. Lohud didn’t suddenly turn into baseball Mensa.
M, I think they made the right move with Phil. Why push it?
unless Hughes has an undisclosed injury (which isn’t the case given how overly careful the Yankees are with pitchers) there is no reason why his velocity won’t return. I’ll be concerned about it if it’s the same at the end of May-Jon Lester was lit up in his 1st start much worse than Hughes, I don’t read anything here about Lester losing his stuff-I was with a good friend of mine who is a life long Sox fan yesterday at his step son’s wedding and his comment was, ‘Lester always sucks in April’. Phil has a ton of talent and is a hard worker, he’ll be fine.
MG :
I have been listening to ex pitchers,sterling,kay,flannery who is an ex catcher.
They all have been saying the same thing.
Hughes is going to have to develope an offspeed pitch or two,i always agreed.
His fb command/control is why he has been surviving up to this point.He can become an elite pitcher but not without developing an offspeed pitch or two.
I’ve never been a fan of the Yankees holding their starters only pitch 17-20 innings in ST games. 50 pitchers threw more ST innings than Hughes….none of them Yankees. Pitchers used to get 35-40 innings during the spring.
Ron, we’ll just have to disagree. The change is never going to be a great pitch for him – Phil has admitted that at best it would be workmanlike. He used to have a terrific curve- he’s got a better chance of having a very good curve and a decent change than a very good change and a very good curve.
The Danny Haren and Zack Greinke non-deals are gonna haunt Cashman if Phil continues to pitch like this. Refusing to include Nunez with Montero for Cliff Lee was kind of a panic prospect hugging move as well. I would really like to see a baseball guy as GM, some like John Flaherty who knows the game. Give him a numbers guy/SABER geek as an assistant. Call it a day.
10 points out of first place in my fantasy league with 2 great nights in a row.
Was in 6th place 2 days ago.
Trisha, the ones who whine and complain the most are the ones who have never stepped on a pitcher’s mound and thrown a pitch at any level.
Velocity just doesn’t desert a 24 year old overnight, they don’t have to be Mensa-qualified to understand that.
Bret, you make me sound like Pollyanna, lol
Nobody here knows jack squat about what Hughes needs. So give it up.
MG you talked about not wanting to hear amateur analysis? Then please don’t encourage it.
Bret, if there’s a problem they’ll figure it out. There are other pitchers in the organization in the meantime. The Yankees are not going to go belly up behind a problem with Hughes. But hold off until we’ve gone through enough games to figure it out.
“Trisha, the ones who whine and complain the most are the ones who have never stepped on a pitcher’s mound and thrown a pitch at any level.” That’s your line for everything, you disgusting old man.
Jerkface, who has likely never stepped on a mound, has more knowledge about baseball in his left testicle than you do in your entire body.
This was a game the Yankees could have easily won, but their pitching failed them. Everytime they got back in the game their pitching didn’t do the job the next inning.
Hughes not only had no velocity but almost never hit the spots Martin put down for him.
The Detroit pitchers exploited Gardner’s new apparent weakness-pitching on the outside corner for his 0-5 day. The #2 hitter was just as bad.
Still won the series, Tampa has no offense, and Boston’e 1 thru 3 have been rocked.
Fitnesscenter For-Jeden April 3rd, 2011 at 8:16 pm
“Trisha, the ones who whine and complain the most are the ones who have never stepped on a pitcher’s mound and thrown a pitch at any level.” That’s your line for everything, you disgusting old man.
Jerkface, who has likely never stepped on a mound, has more knowledge about baseball in his left testicle than you do in your entire body.
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you want to try saying that to my face, jackass?
Id say that your face without a problem. I might end up with a few teeth knocked out, but then Id sue your ass, you disgusting pitiful old man.
Its sad that this board is becoming almost unreadable.
IMO, if I was in charge, any person that called Phil Hughes a “back of the rotation” starter without appropriate evidence would have his or her IP address banned on the spot.
I think its time that we started to filter out the garbage. If this is what we’re looking at on April 3rd, its going to be a long and largely unpalatable year on the Lohud Blog. People with actual baseball intellect will have no reason to continue posting here.
And that would be a sad truth because the work that Chad and his team do makes this far and away the best blog for any professional sports team in the United States.
The problem is they might not figure it out & just because we have other pitchers in the minors & some great coaches does not mean the problem will be fixed.
“mypalfish, and what would you be saying about AJ right now if he had fallen on his face? Game-by-game analysis is for children.”
Since AJ was sick, I don’t think you can say anything about him based on yesterday’s “meh” outing. IMO, you can’t expect any more from him than he gave last year.
And analyzing Hughes certainly isn’t “game by game” anymore. He was pathetic from around June last year, so there is legit reason to wonder if he is ever going to be the “ace” the yanks expected.
If Hughes has a cold, then it’s the right thing to do. But if he’s not, then at 90 pitches I think I would have sent him out again. He had a good 4th inning, I think he could have gone at least batter to batter.
Chad, can we expedite the process and ban this “Mypalfish” before we lose intelligent posters over him?
His ignorance is astonishing.
“IMO, if I was in charge, any person that called Phil Hughes a “back of the rotation” starter without appropriate evidence would have his or her IP address banned on the spot.”
From the second half of the season till now, Hughes has pitched like a back of the rotation starter. Sorry if you don’t like it, but that’s a fact. All the hoping and praying isn’t going to make his curveball better or make him throw his change more or make him throw that blasted weak cutter less. He’s a back-end guy who has to have his good velocity to have a chance because he doesn’t compete and battle without his good “stuff.”
Evidence Hughes is a back rotation starter is MOUNTING circa June 2010 – April 2011.
LOL.
Not only does Bret make people laugh with his fantasy and often idiotic trade proposals, but now he suggests Jon Flaherty would make a great GM because he “knows the game.”
Unlike the guy who has been running the show as the Yankee GM for the last 14 years, including four rings.
You can’t make this crap up.
G-C calling for people to get banned.
Banning someone for expressing an opinion is censorship and is wrong. Now there are posters (poster?) that should be banned – and we all know why
Francona dropped Crawford to 7th. He had 2 if Boston’s 5 hits.
Don’t know why he did it, Boston had no problems scoring runs the first two games when Carl went 0-fer.
Where does he put Crawford in the next game? Was too soon to drop him IMO. Now it’s an awkward thing. Maybe he’ll bat 2nd next.
Giuseppe Franco,
Are you saying Cashman knows more about baseball than Flaherty?
There’s no need for that, Betsy Tarr.
Betsy April 3rd, 2011 at 8:26 pm
Banning someone for expressing an opinion is censorship and is wrong.
********
But hilarious!!!
MG, it’s almost frightening to go through any episode of less-than-perfection with any Yankee, on this forum.
Hughes and Rothschild will get it figured out, whatever it is.
One freakin’ game just doesn’t merit the kind of postmortems you get around here!
Do you remember a night when Joba came out of a game because Joe thought he saw something and wanted to be cautious? It was after Joba had hurt himself and just returned to the game.
TWO FREAKIN’ STRAIGHT DAYS THE LOHUD DOCTORS ANALYZED THE SITUATION. I thought we were going to need smelling salts for the ones who decided his season was over. Meanwhile, Girardi said that very night that where Joba felt the pain was nothing Girardi thought was going to be a concern.
Did that stop the funereal atmosphere and the state of high anxiety that permeated this place for two straight days?
Of course not.
I and a few others of course became voices in the wilderness, suggesting that perhaps people needed to chill out and wait, mentioning that Girardi had said something that was very hopeful. But NOOOOOOOO. Weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Two days later? Joba was fine and there was no problem.
**********
Look gang, breathe and let it work itself out. We do not have the information necessary to come up with any kinds of conclusions now. If there is something to fix, let them fix it. If they decide he needs to be a back-of-the-rotation pitcher, then so he will be. The Yankees will get it worked out.
The fact that there isn’t unanimity here should tell you all you need to know. You all can only guess at the situation.
Whatever needs to happen is going to happen. Meanwhile, we have lots to be excited out. Ivan and Freddy come up next. Concentrate on them. The Yankees will concentrate on Phil. Save your energy for something worthwhile, like trashing the Sux.
Damn it, I didnt mean to do that. Ive been trying really hard to curtail my actions. Damn it! But that pissed me off.
Shame on me. Time for a timeout in the corner.
Speaking of which, I need to post the latest score regarding Ellsbury being quickly yanked from the lead off.
Trisha 3
LGY 0
# Bret The Hitman April 3rd, 2011 at 8:28 pm
Giuseppe Franco,
Are you saying Cashman knows more about baseball than Flaherty?
———–
Is that a serious question?
He certainly knows a lot more about what it takes to run the day-to-day operations of the biggest boy on the block and has done so pretty successfully for the last 14 years.
Flaherty may sometimes know what pitch is coming next during a broadcast, but knowing the game itself and running a $1.7B corporation are two completely different animals.
apparently hughes is washed up 24 year old pitcher according to some here.
trisha,
Thanks for the comments about my fantasy team
I’m shocked they are doing so well
I think Flaherty would have more insight into reports from scouts, a better relationship with the scouting department, a better grasp on talent coming down the pipeline and whether to buy hold or sell it and he’d have a better relationship with the manager and players, a better profile of what types of players might fit in here and excel, a better relationship with the fans and media because he’s just a better communicator, a better relationship with other GM’s because he’s a straight shooter and a baseball guy and he can talk at length about talent, give an honest assessment without sounding like a brochure.
Do I think the Steinbro’s would ever fire their little pet though. Nope.
Bucholz allowed 4 homers? HOLY CRAPOLI!!!!!
Lock up your women and children. Someone’s going to get it tonight!
http://www.ioffer.com/img/item.....dLFJtN.jpg
Oh and GF, you need to toke or reduce sodium intake. My gosh.
Gotta run to the library and study.
Peace
hitman
yanks off to a good start.actually a really good start.
hughes velocity?
it’s really simple.
if i want my golf ball to go faster, i swing faster.
if hughes wants to throw faster then he simply needs to try harder.
if he’s trying and it’s not increasing each time out, that could be a problem. maybe injury.
i suspect he was simply working on other stuff and didn’t really try hard to crank it up.
hghes does not have natural velocity to burn.
he should always work on it.
i have a hunch he just took his velocity for granted .
if he did, he won’t now because everyone is looking at it. i look to him to increase his velocity next time out and then it should build each time out over the next 3-4 starts.
randy,
Sometimes it’s not that simple. When I want my golf ball to go further I can swing as hard as I want, it isn’t necessarily going to go further. But that’s because I have a bad swing.
The point is, Hughes maybe had a problem with his mechanics. In fact, I would think that is the case considering how bad his cutter looked when compared to the end of spring training.
Either way, I don’t think it’s a huge deal.
Patrick,
I’ll switch teams with you straight up.
the hitters or the BP won’t be a concern for this team, the SP is the main concern and has been for a while…
Trisha:
Hughes has not been that good sice the asb last year.
People disguss things.We can’t all sit here & talk about only what you wan’t to talk about or go about it the same way as you,we are all different people.
I am concerned about hughes but there is a difference between expressing that & panicking.
I am also not trying to predict any outcome into the future.
I see an almost 25 year old pitcher who is regressing,as a pitcher or at the very minimum not getting better in any way,shape or form.
The yankees are a win now team & as long as a trade makes sense & it is not for an aging veteran,i look to trade hughes.
We need pitching now,not 2 years from now.
If we were strong 1-3,maybe i keep hughes but we are not.
thanks, Randy, we agree completely on this…
Patrick, swinging a golf club ‘harder’ and ‘faster’ are two completely different things and swinging faster is the one that works. Pitching is the same way, you gain velocity by optimizing the mechanics of throwing the ball, which is essentially getting all the different body parts in sync with each other.
For most people, the harder they swing the slower the club head travels because they are not optimizing their timing.
Patrick, you have to be living right! RA Dickey? 32 flippin’ points against the Marlins?
I wait three years to have a pitcher like Jiminez., Strike out king, gonna win you games. You know what I got for points for his first outing? ONE!
Seriously you are raking. I’m not worrying about Jiminez. He has that finger thing going on and whatever they are going to do, they totally believe they’ll have him fixed for his next start. And I’m tickled with Travis Wood and Gio Gonzalez. But gee, even Ricky Nolasco let me down!!!
And wasn’t it you who grumbled when I got Tulo? I know somebody did. Have you checked out what he’s brought me so far? Don’t bother.
Hey, I think you have the highest point total in our league right now! So it was just my bad fortune to be coupled with you this week ha ha. There are at least three or four people I would be beating had I gotten paired up with them.
Good for you Patrick. I think you deserve to have a great team and to do a really good job. You paid your dues last year. Your time has come my man.
MG,
Ok I see the distinction, good point. But the same idea holds true for pitching. Hughes could be trying to throw hard but not optimizing the force the way he should be due to bad mechanics
Ron, pitchers sometimes struggle for awhile-Justin Verlander had a terrible year in 2008 after two excellent years, did that make him a 25 year old regressing in his ability?
Yeah that was me grumbling about Tulo, he’s a beast! You have a good team trisha, you’ll work it out
So a no experienced Flaherty would do a better job running a $1.7 billion franchise than the guy who has done it for 14 years and has 4 rings on his fingers.
Um, yeah.
BTW, I’d be willing to bet my sodium intake is less than yours.
I rarely eat pre-packaged, frozen, or canned foods.
Someone tell me the reasoning with staying with an obviously ineffective Bartolo Colon, when they could have gone to Joba, Soriano, then IF needed..Mariano for the last 3 innings ? There is NO WAY that the rest of the Bullpen needed rest this early in the season, right ?
patrick-
i’ve had quite a bit of experience with speed and velocity and even though swing mechanics matters, you have to try.
velocity doesn’t happen with out a big effort.
if you want to increase your personal swing speed do it without a ball and just measure club head speed with a radar device. your fastest swing will come when you try the hardest with everything in relaxed sequential order.
speed comes from being loose and really going after it. hughes mechanically knows how to throw a fastball. if he isn’t getting his normal velocity, barring injury, he’s just hasn’t been trying to get the radar gun up there.
it does take a tremendous mental focus to throw or swing with maximum velocity.
the reason most people don’t do speed well is that it’s really hard work.
someone like mariano ,who is still throwing as hard as he is, would not be throwing as fast as he does if he didn’t know how to focus and put out the effort.
look at hughes when he went to the pen. he simply aired it out and the ball went faster. he tried hard in other words. i think it’s a myth that athletes should play at 80%. not of you want to make the ball go fast.
“The yankees are a win now team & as long as a trade makes sense & it is not for an aging veteran,i look to trade hughes”
Ron, while the Yankees are a win now team, they are a patient and intelligent team. They also realize that the season is 162 games and we are in game 3.
It is the fans who are impatient and don’t always show an ability for reasoned judgment.
When I look at situations, I try to do it through the eyes of the Yankees. I try to think of the way they are going to handle the situation. Most of the time I get it right. It has nothing to do with what I want to see happen or don’t want to see happen. I’ve spent a real long time watching and listening to what they have to say about things and the way they go about things.
My opinion is that you are not going to see Hughes traded, and if that were ever to happen, it certainly won’t be after one game in the season. That’s why I say you have to wait it out. Nobody here knows whether there is anything wrong with Hughes. Therefore nobody here knows what needs to be fixed or how to fix it. People like to think they know, but they don’t.
“If we were strong 1-3,maybe i keep hughes but we are not.” I say we are strong 1-4. Take Hughes out of the picture. I have a ton of faith in Nova and Garcia. I don’t care what number you call Hughes in the rotation.
I quote my dad a lot, but that’s because he was a very very wise and practical man.
1. Don’t borrow trouble.
2. If you don’t have control over a situation, don’t waste good energy trying to control it.
3. Que sera sera.
Those first two things are really helpful if you want to live in the moment as much as possible and all three are good for helping you reduce your stress.
The Yankees know how to deal with situations that arise. 27 World Championships tell me they’ve been to this rodeo before.
JMO. And seriously, only trying to help.
Fair enough randy.
I’ll again agree with Randy on this. Athletes are heavily dependent on muscle memory and it’s tough to maintain your muscle memory over the offseason, particularly for a pitcher.
If he didn’t establish his 92+ mph fastball in spring training (I haven’t seen him throw this year so only know what I read) then he just hasn’t gotten himself back to throwing at his maximum velocity. I would guess he’ll figure it out shortly, probably in a side session, and be much better in his start following that side session.
“Ron, pitchers sometimes struggle for awhile-Justin Verlander had a terrible year in 2008 after two excellent years, did that make him a 25 year old regressing in his ability”?
At the time yes.
All i am saying is that it is possible that hughes does no become an ace so if i can trade him & montero for an ace,i do it because the ace replaces hughes wich makes us better now,guaranteed.
We also by trading hughes & montero,my thinking is we get to keep banuelos & betances who are imo more advanced with their breaking pitches.
I am not saing trade them for a 32 year old pitcher,it would have to make sense.
Don Vito A. Bellamo April 3rd, 2011 at 8:59 pm
Someone tell me the reasoning with staying with an obviously ineffective Bartolo Colon, when they could have gone to Joba, Soriano, then IF needed..Mariano for the last 3 innings ? There is NO WAY that the rest of the Bullpen needed rest this early in the season, right ?
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My belief is that Girardi does it to piss off know-it-all idiots.
Ron, we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this, you are thinking exactly the way the Yankees did in the mid ’80s when they traded every prospect for an established major league player. The result was the Stump Merrill years, the darkest era of Yankees baseball since before the Bambino came to New York.
GB…..You made a point earlier about the lack of spring training innings that is the norm as of late……I’ve watched 7 games since the opener and velocities are down all over the league right now…..Let’s see where we are in 2 weeks or after three more starts…..However as for today’s issues on the hill for Hughes, he answered that question in the postgame….He had poor command and spun to many breaking balls or non heaters…..But in the end it was 2 swings by Miguel Cabrera that bruised him up…….From what I saw today, Hughes had a hard time pounding Martin’s mitt consistently…….There’s analyzing and then there’s over analyzing……
GB
Here is the roster from the other day of pitchers, they have the group set up for extended, in my next comment ill do the position players since this only allows 1 link at a time
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f8PX.....G_4424.JPG
All i am saying is that it is possible that hughes does no become an ace so if i can trade him & montero for an ace,i do it because the ace replaces hughes wich makes us better now,guaranteed.
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Judging by this statement after one start, it looks like Verlander is regressing again.
Here is the positon players. obviously theyll make some last minute changes
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IWvs.....G_4422.JPG
rON…..Go back and re-read what you just shared with us, because that is beyond far out……
You say trade Hughes because he’s not good. At the very least he could be your #5. Or are your standards ridiculous?
Johnson, Felix, Lee, Halladay, Pujols. They ain’t coming. Anyone else is not worth giving up Hughes.
Tommy Hanson : 3.2 IP, 4 runs, 2 walks, 0 K’s
Jon Lester : 5 IP, 5 runs, 1 walk, 0 K’s
Francisco Liriano: 4.1 IP, 4 runs, 5 walks, 3 K’s
Ubaldo Jiminez: 6 IP, 6 runs, 1 walk, 0 K’s
do these pitchers stink as well or are they labeled back end guys because they weren’t very good in their first start of the season? It’s one start….let’s see where he is after a couple more…..
# Jerkface April 3rd, 2011 at 6:02 pm
34 at home 47 on the road in the ‘second half’ (second 81 games)
=================================
Glass half empty?
Better make hay the 1st half when it’s 47 at home, 34 away.
blake, wasn’t Jiminez about 10-1 last year with an ERA under 1.00 for a long time.
Baseball is a funny game, isn’t it?
trisha:
There is no way cashman is going to allow the pitching staff to self destruct.
We don’t know what he is thinking,we didn’t know he almost traded montero for lee & i bet if you ask him now he regrets keeping joba.
Sometimes it is better to trade your prospects,i don’t know who or when but not all of them turn into anything special.
I love hughes to death but i would trade him & montero for only a few pitchers in baseball,king felix is who i wan’t.
About the same age as hughes & he would make us a much better team & really give us a better chance this year.
I mo we should strike now before the rs realize that their pitching stinks.
Now I am just doing a little horizontal thinking here, so anyone who wants to play along can feel free.
I am asking a question to which we don’t really know the answer. But I like to throw out provocative questions every now and then.
Does anyone think it is possible that Hughes put too much pressure on himself following the outings of CC and AJ and was trying to be too fine? Overthinking things?
Again, I have an out-of-the-box way of thinking and these thoughts just come to me, not that they are so complex or intricate. Again, just a question.
I didn’t get to see the game, so maybe watching it would automatically answer my question and there would be no need to ask it?
Here’s another one. Is it possible that Hughes is concentrating so much on perfecting other pitches that he isn’t paying attention to velocity?
Well I think I’ll go to see whether or not my laptop has recovered from all of a sudden going black screen.
Pat M. April 3rd, 2011 at 9:11 pm
GB…..You made a point earlier about the lack of spring training innings that is the norm as of late……I’ve watched 7 games since the opener and velocities are down all over the league right now…..Let’s see where we are in 2 weeks or after three more starts…..However as for today’s issues on the hill for Hughes, he answered that question in the postgame….He had poor command and spun to many breaking balls or non heaters…..But in the end it was 2 swings by Miguel Cabrera that bruised him up…….From what I saw today, Hughes had a hard time pounding Martin’s mitt consistently…….There’s analyzing and then there’s over analyzing……
———————————————————————————————————————-
Pat, I just looked at ST innings and I was shocked at the low innings totals. Same with in-game at bats. I always remember them eaching upwards of 40 innings and 75 or more at bats. You can’t strengthen arms and hands by going half heartedly. facing hitters that just stand there, instead of the better hitters is the only way to get an accurate read on how well a ball moves against a hitter that’s actually trying to hit it, or a hitter facing live, good pitching to work out the kinks in the swing. You and Randy understand that. not so sure others do. High quality repetition.
oh and I forgot John Lackey:
3.2 IP, 9 ER’s , 2 walks, 3 k’s
Knicks Clinch a Playoff Spot!!!!
Memo to Theo: your pitching stinks, go do something about it. You might have won the offseason but that only gets you a bowl of chowder in March.
Signed: Red Sox Nation and Ron.
MG,
He got off to an incredible start last year….in his defense I think he was pitching with a blister or cut and didn’t tell anyone and his velocity was way down because of it….
mick, aren’t you the one who claimed a week ago the Knicks had only 2 winnable games left on the schedule? If it wasn’t you it was someone whose name started with ‘m’ and it wasn’t me lol
Congrats to the Knicks, they could have folded again today after blowing a 23 point 2nd quarter lead but actually played good defense from late in the 3rd quarter until the end of the game.
Trish, I would like to know if youve always been a staunch Yankee fan or is it more of being a Red Sox hater?
You seem to root for all teams except the red sox, just wondering…
“Here’s another one. Is it possible that Hughes is concentrating so much on perfecting other pitches that he isn’t paying attention to velocity?”
Hard to say….but it did look like that he was trying maybe too much to mix things up instead of just going after guys like we’re used to seeing from him. That could have been because he knew he didn’t have his good fastball….I don’t know. Again, I want to see how he progresses from here into his next start….
MG April 3rd, 2011 at 9:22 pm
mick, aren’t you the one who claimed a week ago the Knicks had only 2 winnable games left on the schedule? If it wasn’t you it was someone whose name started with ‘m’ and it wasn’t me lol
===================
Sure it was.Does that make me a bad fan?
mick, no, just a disgusted one after the way they played for most of March, it’s understandable. Billups is back to Mr. Big Shot again, they are going to be a tough out in the playoffs.
“There is no way cashman is going to allow the pitching staff to self destruct.”
Ron, that’s a bingo. And if you don’t see any moves happening concerning Hughes, you’ll know that you jumped the gun. Key words: wait and watch. Because that’s all you can do. That’s all any of us can do.
“do these pitchers stink as well or are they labeled back end guys because they weren’t very good in their first start of the season? It’s one start….let’s see where he is after a couple more…..”
Of that group only Lester stinks and should be a back end guy – if that!
“blake, wasn’t Jiminez about 10-1 last year with an ERA under 1.00 for a long time.
Baseball is a funny game, isn’t it?”
And he’s going to get there again this season dammit! You just saw the 1 in the 10-1.
there you go MG….it’s the ying and yang of sports….why keep it inside, get emotional….it’s only a game.
TY, thanks for the rosters from the farm. Really somewhat surprised that Abetra wasn’t bumped up to Trenton. Are you picking up any rumors down there?
Mitch ***Abeita***
As Girardi stated Colon is the long man. You can’t exhaust the pen.
Could Phil be going thru a dead arm period?
Maybe he is hurting.
GB
No, I haven’t heard anything. Torre Tyson’s wife was there but she was just sitting with her kids and not with anyone that I could listen into their conversation. Maybe they’re not moving Abeita up because they want him to get a more even playing time. With Romine in Trenton, I doubt they’ll give him a lot of days off. With Abeita and Higashioka, I would think they would get more even playing time in. I was surprised to see Bryan Mitchell on Extended ST roster.
Brett Marshall pitched saturday so he will be ready for the season opener but I wont be able to make it.
GB
also haven’t seen Francisco Santana, I overheard that he was released but no official word on it, either he was released, hurt himself or he isnt stateside yet.
“Trish, I would like to know if youve always been a staunch Yankee fan or is it more of being a Red Sox hater?”
Started at the age of 5, no lie. Yankees all the way. HOWEVER, live in RI growing up a Yankee fan and you automatically get your card to be a Sux hater. They go hand in hand.
In life I am a bleeding heart. So I end up feeling bad for everyone with any kind of problem. It’s a flippin’ burden because it takes away any and all killer instinct with respect for wanting your team of choice to steamroll over anyone. I want the Yankees to win but I don’t want other teams to lose. (Do I understand the logical fallacy in that statement? Of course. It’s heart overruling mind though.)
It is what it is mick. It’s just who I am. Believe me, for me it’s a push and pull all the time.
Now saying that, I can get my dander up if a team gets c*cky or starts trashing the Yankees. Last year Ian Kinsler started mouthing off and of course I wanted Texas to take it on the chin. When we are playing in the postseason, of course I want the Yanks to win it all. But it doesn’t mean that I didn’t sit and cry for B-H Kim when he gave up those homers during the world series. I feel sad for people when things like that happen.
I am one of life’s emotional sponges. Sucks but I was born that way.
Bryan Mitchell, I guess should be working on things. He only had the rookie league innings og 46 last year. and coming off of injury. I would guess Charleston in May.
# mick April 3rd, 2011 at 9:34 pm
Maybe he is hurting.
————————————————
Let’s hope not the rotation needs him.
And when teams are playing the Yanks of course I want them to lose and the Yanks to win. I can’t stand lopsided games where the Yanks kill the opposition (or vice versa). Then I start to feel bad. The only time I have any ambivalence at all is when a “lousy” team is playing the Yankees. Because I have so much faith in the Yanks, I secretly don’t mind the lousy team winning a game. In fact I have secretly rooted for teams to beat the Yankees. But it’s so they can feel good about themselves and feel validated. I always know the Yankees are going to be there in the end. So when the Nats played the Yanks and beat them I was happy for the Nats.
If you think that is a messed up way to process things, imagine living it.
It’s not easy being me!
But I love the Yanks like none other.
And maybe the reason I’m okay when lesser teams beat them now and again is because I love them win or lose. Yes I want them to win in the end but since I know they are not going to win all 162, if some of those losses are to teams that need to feel good about themselves, I’m all for it.
GB
not sure if you or anyone on this blog reads gets minor league information on scout.com but I just read a recap of the game I went to and their recap of Manny’s outing was horribly incorrect, I dont know what game they were watching but it wasnt the one I went to. They said he allowed 1 run on 3 hits while walking no one. He definitely only allowed 1 hit(other baserunner was an error on the 2nd baseman when he threw way wide of first) it also said he didnt walk anyone and I have video of him walking a guy. thats why you cant trust everything you read online I guess.
Mick that might be a factor, a dead arm period. We’ll know as time goes on.
Trisha, the ones who whine and complain the most are the ones who have never stepped on a pitcher’s mound and thrown a pitch at any level.
——-
I thought that was the sabermetricians?
April 14th vs the Orioles is the time to seriously worry about Hughes’ velo
Giants are feeling what fun it is to try and repeat as Champions. Tough when your on top and getting everyone’s best shot. Yankee teams have to fight this every year.
Matchups:
Baker-Nova
Duensing-Sabathia
Pavano-Garcia
Liriano-Burnett
Thanks for the Banuelos update, TY. You’ve got a lot of kids to cover this summer. Maybe by mid-summer, you can add the baby of the group, Mitchell, who isn’t 20 years old yet. You’re a lucky ladt to be that close to the park. I’d be out there every day.
“In fact I have secretly rooted for teams to beat the Yankees”
——-
The ying C-R9′s yang. They do say opposites attract.
Marcus Thames legs out an RBI triple. Not a pretty sight.
I think this upcoming series all revolves around tomorrow nights games. Nova has a good start to the season and the Yankees win, 3 out of 4 is almost a guarantee.
Thinking the Yankees will drop one of the last 2.
GB
I will be spending this upcoming weekend watching only baseball. Friday night I am going to the home opener and meeting Doreen who will also be there, Saturday they play in Lakeland and since my cousins live out that way I am taking them to the game and then Im going to the sunday game in tampa. I might go again on Monday or Tuesday since I have season tickets but it all depends on if I’ve finished my homework. I have a lot of games to watch and pay attention to a lot of things. Here is the link to my blog since I took off the link from my name. the first two posts on here are the video I took of Banuelos and the lines of the players and pitchers. http://www.2K10Yanks.blogspot.com
““In fact I have secretly rooted for teams to beat the Yankees. The ying C-R9?s yang. They do say opposites attract.”
Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. How disgusting and revolting. I cant say Im surprised; trisha is not a real Yankees fan. She doesnt lose sleep if the Yankees fail to win the World Series. She does, however, lose sleep when she’s proven wrong.
LGY – 97
trisha – 0
Randy, good stuff, but last year Phil said that he was not going to pace himself as a starter – and he didn’t. So, not sure why he’d be pacing himself now
Blake, some of those pitchers you listed are tremendous pitchers and are given and should be given the benefit of the doubt. Phil doesn’t have to be an ace to be a good pitcher – that’s for sure – if that’s his destiny not to be, but he has to develop secondary pitches. I think it’s understandable if some are concerned. In fact, I think the lack of progression of these pitches is more concerning than the velocity. I couldn’t believe Andrew Marchand – or maybe I could. He was comparing Phil to Javy Vasquez – at 24, lol
What does Montero have to do with this?
The thing is, it’s important for Phil to develop these pitches – if that comes at the cost of major velocity, that’s an issue. I don’t think he’s injured and I find it hard to believe his velocity won’t return – unless it’s an issue related to his workload from last year.
I’m glad the Knicks won and congrats to them for finally beating the Cavs and making the playoffs, but they blew a 23 point lead? I don’t see them making any noise in the playoffs………..but boy, Denver sure benefited from the trade, lol
Why would secondary pitches come at the cost of up to 4 mph on avg?
Denver beat the Lakers, nice win for them today.
excited about seeing Nova tomorrow, hopefully he’s still in the game when the national championship game tips off
Half of Denver’s team are FA at the end of the season.
Betsy
I cant stand Marchand or Wallace Matthews, they always write their articles with a negative slant. Not that I dont like to read critical articles on the Yankees but some of them should try to be more objective. I think his velocity was turned into a bigger deal because of the quotes that were said about his velocity before the game. They never mentioned anything about it during ST. I would rather wait maybe 1 or 2 more outings before crucifying him like some have or naming him the next Vazquez.
Ha, Pete Abe went to the classic Red Panic Button that he used to post on here for his latest post on his blog. Classic Abraham.
Basketball is a game of runs. You are up big and then you are not. Bottom line the Knicks won convincingly.
The only reason why Denver is doing what they’re doing now without Carmelo is because they have a real coach. D’Antoni is a fuggin retard who sits on the bench looking dumbfounded 3/4 of the time. Even with Karl, that Nuggets team aint going to the West Finals without Carmelo. That’s a fact.
I think there’s too much being made about Phil’s velocity. Sabathia was only around 92 but nobody talked about it. Let’s give Phil a few weeks before we start freaking out.
“Half of Denver’s team are FA at the end of the season.”
Yep.
This whole trade will be evaluated a year from now. DEN was always going to win the short term battle. There is no way for them to be able to keep their team together though.
I think I’m most concerned with Hughes not being able to miss bats. That was a problem at times last year and it was there again today.
When you watch him pitch and get to 2 strikes you just wish he would drop a breaking ball in there but he doesn’t pull one out.
If his fastball can’t beat the hitters in the zone he’s going to pitch to contact and he’s going to get lit up a lot.
I’m less concerned about velocity. I think it will return shortly. I’m concerned about him needing an out pitch.
Say what you want about AJ, but the fact he could flash that power curve yesterday helped him a great deal and made hitters looking for something other than a fastball in the zone.
I can’t believe that Hughes isn’t aware that he needs more in his repertoire other than his fastball. If he doesn’t and he can’t expand it, he may find himself back in the bullpen one of these days.
I just can’t believe the kid who had that wicked curve when he came up has lost that pitch totally. It’s baffling and sad. It’s like when Joba can’t throw the slider like he used to when he came up.
Why did both of these young pitchers lose the control over ridiculous put-a-way pitches like that in their careers here already?
I, and a lot of fans, have a hard time understanding how that happens.
TYanks, the velocity issue was definitely mentioned in ST…………..but yes, Marchand and Matthews are not the best. However, we’re going to see articles tomorrow about this – and it’s understandable. Marchand was all over the place: Phil is young, he’s not that young; he could be like Javy, but then maybe he’s not like Javy.
IMO Phils location is much more of a problem than his velocity. Too many pitches *up*.
And my concern is if Phil continues to pitch badly, they may trade Montero or Banuelos to get pitching, which I’d be against. I’d rather just take my chances with Colon.
With the offense this team looks like it will have, they only need the four starters other than CC to be league average and they win 90+ games easily.
“It is a little disconcerting right now,” Hughes said after his four innings of five-run pitching in the Yankees’ first defeat of the season, a 10-7 home run fest against the Tigers.
Hughes took the loss, but the bigger concern is whether his fastball will disappear like Javy Vazquez’s did last year, or Joba Chamberlain’s did the year before.
If Hughes stays at 89-91, then what?
“I make too many mistakes over the plate to live at that,” Hughes said. “[The retired] Jamie Moyer has been doing it for years. I attack guys and I am aggressive. When my velocity is a tick down I can’t get away with as many mistakes as I normally do.”
Pitching coach Larry Rothschild put it more succinctly.
“That is not his game really,” Rothschild said.
Hughes and Rothschild both said Hughes is not hurt. There is no evidence of that, but between throwing more and throwing less they haven’t been able to figure out how to get higher readings on the gun.
“There is not an easy way to get there,” Rothschild said.
“There is going to be concern until you see it,” Rothschild said.
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-.....id=6287077
Patrick
I agree with you, I think they made a big deal about it because of the comment whoever it was that said his velocity was down before the game, all his pitches were analyzed even deeper than usual, if its still down in his next next start then maybe its an issue
CC was only 1 mph below what he usually averages.
Paul Lo Duca (I guess he is an analyst now?) was on Ch. 5… said the problem with Hughes is that there is too little variation with his FB/cutter. Said it is basically the same pitch and easy to pick up on and he throws them both way too much. Said he has to mix in the off-speed stuff otherwise he is very predictable, said that is the case even if he gets his velo. back but exacerbated when he can’t touch 90.
GLove, Phil admitted he was stubborn last year – he didn’t throw the change because he felt he was just fine with his cutter/FB. All along I felt that there was no way he could get by with 2 pitches, but he’s a kid – and also it seems like the Yankees didn’t force him to throw the change. It’s the same with the curve – he lost confidence in it. When he’s saying after last ST that the change is his 3rd best pitch after the FB and cutter, you know something is wrong. I get that he was hurt and lost 2 years, but he picks up pitches fairly quickly – he should have been able to pick the curve up again. Granted, he had to focus, when rehabbing, on his FB. In any case, I think Phil gets obsessed with his new toys (cutter) and tinkers too much with the grip on his curve. In some way, the Yanks are to blame: too much focus on the change, not enough on the curve. I think being in the pen may have set him back as well.
LGY, that’s true about the Knicks.
Phil’s velocity will likely be a temporary issue unless he’s hurt (doubtful) or it’s a reaction to last year, but the more pressing concerns are just as GLove stated……….
EA,
LoDuca is right. When you watch Hughes pitch he almost looks like reliever due to the fact all his pitches look the same. Maybe I’m not sophisticated enough to see the difference, but everything just looks similar up there. In a reliever that’s fine.
For 6 innings? No so fine unless that fastball is so fast the hitters can’t connect with it.
I’m not saying Phil is toast and needs to go to the pen. I’m just saying he needs to make some strides and throw some stuff other than the hard stuff he is laying in there. The repetoire, to me, looks like a relievers right now.
Betsy
I didn’t see daily reports on his velocity because I live in Tampa and our papers don’t get into that. It was also probably written about by people I don’t care to read. I still think it was even more scrutinized because of what was said about it before the game. Not that it wouldn’t already, phil gets a lot of scrutiny anyway(as do all yankee players) I don’t read Marchand, I sometimes wonder why people pay some of these guys to write for their websites and papers.
EA, Lo Duca is right…….but Rothschild and the catcher are also to blame if Phil is throwing his cutter too much. If Phil loves his FB/Cutter so much, he’s not going to develop those other pitches in a sufficient manner for him to be a really good starting pitcher.
As to the pen, I’ve thought that was a possibility from the beginning, but back in 2009 he didn’t give up a lot of HRs……..Now? He does.
Of course, talk of being in the pen is WAY too early, but he has to develop those pitches if he wants to avoid going there. Boy, this is depressing
“For 6 innings? No so fine unless that fastball is so fast the hitters can’t connect with it. ”
Yeah, I agree. He had that unhittable FB early on last year. Once it started to normalize, so did the results. How often is he going to have his good FB? He needs something to fall back on. The cutter can’t be a substitute for a good off-speed pitch. And the worst part is that he had a wicked curve. Where the hell did it go?
TYanks, I try to avoid Marchand, but I wanted to read as much as I could about Phil tonight. There aren’t many baseball writers in town that I respect, unfortunately
Betsy,
You’ve gotten killed on here for saying what I’m saying and frankly what I’ve said in the past here.
He needs more weapons. Maybe the relief stint got him in the mindset of blowing away the batter with his best 2 pitches and he can’t break out of that?
Who knows. What I do know is that there is little variation in his pitches. He’s trying to hit spots and be perfect with the fastball and w/o changing speeds I think he’s going to get hit hard a lot.
Rothschild sounds like he’s rightly concerned with what he is seeing and that is a great sign to me. I just hope he doesn’t go out in Fenway and get clobbered next weekend. He’s got some work to do this week. Maybe something will click.
# LGY April 3rd, 2011 at 10:52 pm
Half of Denver’s team are FA at the end of the season.
—————————————
Translation they are taking a step back next yr
Maybe Hughes should go to a splitter. If he wants to throw a lot of hard stuff he should become a slider/splitter pitcher. Ditch the curve and the change.
He doesn’t trust his curve. He trusts his FB and cutter to get him out of jams.
“Maybe Hughes should go to a splitter. If he wants to throw a lot of hard stuff he should become a slider/splitter pitcher. Ditch the curve and the change.”
Good idea. He obviously needs something off-speed. The cutter ain’t enough.
I doubt it, but I hope there was something throwing off pitch fx.
86% fastball+cutter is crazy.
GLove, I have gotten killed, lol……………but I have 9 lives and keep coming back. I take no pleasure in this, believe me. Phil is a really good kid and easy to root for, but facts are facts.
I think his stint in the pen did exactly what you suggest it did……..unfortunately. I get that we won the WS and that trumps all, but the Yankees might be paying the price for not leaving him in AAA to start.
I love Rothschild, but he needs to insist that Phil cut down on the cutter and work on that curve. He can’t, however, do much about mistake pitches at the wrong time – rightly or wrongly, Phil is getting a rep as a guy who makes bad pitches at bad times. Where is the kid with the ice water in his veins that I saw in late 2007? He’s not here.
No thanks on a splitter and all the strain it puts on an arm
Phil’s velocity will likely be a temporary issue unless he’s hurt (doubtful) or it’s a reaction to last year, but the more pressing concerns are just as GLove stated……….
—
True..
I really don’t think he’s hurt either, he said today he feels fine and it seemed truthful to me. I don’t think the Yankees would risk this guy..
It’s possible his arm is worn down after a lot of innings last year but I don’t think that’s the case. Maybe randy is right, Phil just wasn’t putting max effort into his pitches today.
I think the real issue that we should discuss is his cutter and other secondary pitches. If he can get that cutter back to what it was at the end of spring training, great. If not, he should go back to the cutter he threw last year. And either way, don’t throw so many!
40 fastballs, 37 cutters, 10 curves, 3 changeups.
Maybe he made a conscious decision to get away from the fastball because the velocity was down? Maybe he’s still in that spring training mindset of working on pitches – don’t forget, this version of the cutter is brand new.
Either way, I’d like to see more heaters, fewer cutters.
Patrick, that breakdown is really ridiculous………..3 change ups? 10 curves? 37, yes, 37 cutters?
Phil always has some new version of a pitch going on. Remember, he wasn’t happy with his “old” cutter in ST (one time he called it awful) – perhaps he was too impatient with it.. I mean, every pitcher struggles with a pitch sometimes. His perfectionist approach may work against him.
Betsy
I read articles on the Rays in my papers, I am eager to read what they have to say about them getting swept. Probably doom and gloom about losing Longoria(like he has to do with their lack of hittng) the tampa writers are bad but not as bad as NY ones. If Tampa wins the next game they’ll be tripping over themselves trying to say how they are going to win the division. I wish they’d make up their minds.
perhaps he was too impatient with it.. I mean, every pitcher struggles with a pitch sometimes. His perfectionist approach may work against him.
–
He has used that cutter for 2 years. So I wouldn’t call it impatience.
And he still does use his old cutter to lefties.
Betsy,
I don’t have a big problem with the curves and change-ups, but Hughes’ fastball when it’s on is so dynamic he should be working off it at all times. I suspect the breakdown I just gave you is a bit off because his fastball velocity was low and some of those would be classified as cutters.
If Hughes can throw the cutter like he did in spring training it’s more of a slider anyways so the lack of curves doesn’t bother me as much. Don’t forget, when he was drafted the slider was his best pitch but the Yankees told him to scrap it because it’s risky on a young arm.
I think the bottom line is, Hughes wasn’t getting any swing and misses. Whether he tightens up the curve, or improves the cutter/slider, he has work to do.
That being said, it’s one start. I still have a lot of confidence that Hughes will have a big year.
Jerkface, the point is – he struggled with it for a few games in ST and decided that he should change it; that’s not impatient?
Well let me at least revise one of my statements. It isn’t anything that I haven’t mentioned here before either, by the way. Rather than saying I secretly root for the Yankees to lose, let me say that I secretly root for a “lesser than” team to win if they are playing the Yanks and winning and the Yanks are firmly entrenched in first place. I used to do it when the Rays were the Devil Rays and they weren’t winning games.
That said, here’s a word of advice to the forum psycho. Stay out of my face and don’t mention me or refer to my posts. It’s only because I have a bleeding heart that I haven’t turned on you like a rabid dog, despite your psychotic behavior. But don’t push me because you will be in for a big surprise if you do. Want to test me? Go right ahead.
Patrick, that’s true about the cutter/slider, but remember it was just that one game we saw it; it’s yet to be determined if he can throw that consistently. I still love the curve – I’d hate to see Phil drop it completely. Of course it’s just one game – he’s clearly a work in progress, though. Better to think of Phil like that than to jump off the bridge.
Jerkface, that’s true, but either way, too many cutters…..
Jerkface, the point is – he struggled with it for a few games in ST and decided that he should change it; that’s not impatient?
—
Betsy,
In the past haven’t you been very critical of his cutter? Maybe he came to the same conclusion as you, that it needed to change.
Jerkface, the point is – he struggled with it for a few games in ST and decided that he should change it; that’s not impatient?
–
The way you characterized the pitch all year, I would say he has struggled with it for a while. If he didn’t like how the pitch was moving, and it has been something that is gnawing at him for the better part of 2 years, spring training is the time to change it.
From ESPN: HA! HA! HA!
“Entering the season with more hype than any Red Sox team since …. well, ever … Boston promptly dropped all three games of its opening series against the defending AL champion Texas Rangers by a combined score of 26-11. To put that in perspective, the Sox’s minus-15 run differential is not only the worst in the AL East, it’s the worst in all of baseball.”
“We’re not even going to ask whether it’s time to start questioning whether the preseason prognostications (42 of 45 ESPN experts picked them to be in the World Series) were completely off base, but we are wondering whether Red Sox Nation is waking up Monday morning with a little less swagger than it had at lunchtime Friday.”
Patrick, yes, that could be………..perhaps Phil was tired of the issues he had with it last year and into ST. He wants to improve and that’s always a good thing – he sure doesn’t sit on his behind.
Hughes could have been expecting to get a better feel for the cutter by now and when he didn’t decided to take it in another direction. Perhaps the problem with Hughes is that he doesn’t have any feeling in his hands?
Jerkface yes that’s true………….if he wasn’t happy with it for awhile and it was something he’d been thinking about, then absolutely it’s good that he was proactive. I just got the impression he was unhappy with the cutter during ST and that’s why he went to Rothschild, but I certainly could be wrong.
I noticed the high number of cutters while following on Gameday. But I think he was just staying away from his fastball as much as possible for obvious reasons.
The number of cutters was not the only issue.
You can’t throw 86% of basically fastballs and expect to get major league hitters out unless you have an incredible feel for the pitch on that particular day and even then it is too much.
Buttholz gave up 9 HR all last season.
Gave up 4 today alone.
It will be nice to watch his peripherals catch up with him.
Maybe people here could solve Phil’s problems if they would take the time to analyze the types of pitches he threw and their velocities.
LGY,
From your mouth to God’s ear.
I know Boston is going to beat the snot out of the Cleveland this week and everyone in the media will be puffing their chests out again about that Boston juggernaut, but in the meantime their pitchers still have to show up and pitch something I think was lost on all the prognosticators this off season.
Fans all off-season were saying Phil could be a #2 behind CC.
I have a question for you guys…
Did you stop watching Phil after May, 2010?
Maybe we can collectively wish away all of Phil’s issues!!
Nick,
Maybe we need an eskimo in the rotation for the first few months?
Hughes problem today was primarily command, as it usually is with most pitchers who are having a tough time of it. An 89-91 MPH fastball is ample as long as you’re hitting the catcher’s mitt (and he wasn’t).
Too much talk in my opinion about what Hughes is throwing. Sure it would be great if he refines his change up, but a fastball, curve and cutter/slider is enough of a repertoire if you hit your spots. And, what you throw depends on the scouting report for a particular hitter and the game situation.
Hughes will be fine, he’s young and not hurt, velocity doesn’t just disappear for no reason. I suspect all of this is mechanical and I’m not worried about it in the least.
Did you stop watching Phil after May, 2010?
–
Did you? You missed some good outings.
Jerkface,
#2′s should consistently pitch good outings over one month periods.
Which month after May was Phil consistently good enough to be a #2?
Bret – Which is why AJ is the #2. At least he has an out pitch.
Really think Nova could be the #3 by the end of the year
I agree.
Maybe Phil could be a #2 February was part of the baseball season. That’s a pretty short month.
Except during leap year. Phil needs to be good enough to be a #2 in a 29-day month at minimum. He’s not there yet.
Well I can name plenty of #5 starters who put up sporadic outings here and there but over the course of the season, trends show their bottom rotation guys, not #2′s.
So there’s that.
edit: put up good outings sporadically.
People seem angry at Phil. Like he’s a failure because he’s not pitching like a #2 consistently. And don’t lie and say he hasn’t pitched like a #2 at times. Whose lunch did Phil steal? More like whose rotation spot did he steal?
I really like Rothschild’s candor, because that’s obviously what many people are thinking, but I’m not concerned about Hughes right now.
Small sample sizes of both good and bad performances mean almost nothing, especially at the beginning of the season.
Funny, Betsy took all the heat by herself over the winter and spring. Nobody felt chivalrous then.
After every Phil outing, should we rank his outing based on what rotation spot it would best approximate?
Great game, Phil, that was a #1 outing!
Hmmm, not bad, Phil, a middling #3 outing.
Ouch, Phil, that’s barely even #5 stuff!
m, were you lurking here over the entire winter?
m
I have often defended Betsy even though I don’t agree with her.
I blame you, Nick in SF. You should be banned from In-N-Out AND from watching Phil’s outing.
No, I didn’t come around until just before P&C. But the same old wacko still resides, so it felt like I never left.
Then I don’t get that comment about Betsy taking all the heat over the winter and spring. And taking all the heat for what? Criticizing Phil Hughes?
Oh, you’re too sharp. Gotta watch my exaggerations next time.
In 20 of Phils 29 starts he gave up 3 runs or less. As a young pitcher in the AL east in a park that is not conducive to his pitch type.
Fine by me for a number whatever.
And no one felt chivilrous? In regards to Betsy’s critiques of Phil Hughes?
You mean defending Betsy from people who counsel patience and optimism re: Phil?
Going to logoff for the night. Apologies to anyone I may have offended. Bad sports day.
Nick,
In all the times that Betsy got heat for criticizing Phil and saying he’d never be this or that (even though he’s far from a finished product), I don’t recall any of the people who showed up throughout the day to say the same things backing up Betsy. So I made a joke about chivalry. Like why did they wait until today to chime in? I should have just said something about 2011 Season SSS.
I see.
Much to do about nothing, and an entire afternoon and evening dedicated to it….No command and you’re going to get hit and in Yankee Stadium that’s a dangerous situation……He made 2 mistakes to Miguel Cabrera and paid for it in the form of 4 runs…..This whole nonsense about someone being right or wrong is pure bs……..Well tomorrow it’s Ivan Nova who gets to be dissected under the microscope by people here who are clueless……Honestly what has happened to this place ???/
# Nick in SF April 4th, 2011 at 12:37 am
After every Phil outing, should we rank his outing based on what rotation spot it would best approximate?
Great game, Phil, that was a #1 outing!
Hmmm, not bad, Phil, a middling #3 outing.
Ouch, Phil, that’s barely even #5 stuff!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, this place just wouldn’t be the same without your comments Nick. We need some levity here once in a while.
I’m going to weigh in on Phil. I agree with WCYF — Phil’s location is just so bad right now, better velocity or another type of pitch is not going to help much at this point. His got to hit his spots. He’s all over the place.
Nick, I vote for your
*idea above.
(that got cut off from my last sentence.)
Ooh. Took a peek at Pete’s blog. Adrian Gonzalez: “We’ve still got 159. I know I’m fully confident that come September we’ll either be in first place or right in the middle of everything.”
Has he drunk the koolaid, or does he mean 3rd place? Just kidding. I’m sure the Sox will show up eventually.
Is it safe to come out yet? Yeesh. Game Three. Keyboard warriors. These people have too much time on their hands. Ignorance can be fixed, stupid is forever. Mind you, if you just read the comments by the good people it goes much faster.
Pat, you summed it up in a nutshell on Hughes. The first game of the season for God’s sake. On top of that the wind was blowing out.
Randy I had a very good summation of Posada’s career earlier today.
Pat M
You were right about Martin. Absolutely enamored of him. And he has a history in LA of developing young pitchers. Between Rothschild and Martin, they had AJ throw nine changeups. Totally amazing.
Betsy April 3rd, 2011 at 11:21 pm
No thanks on a splitter and all the strain it puts on an arm
—
A splitter does not put strain on the arm, not really any more than a fastball anyway. Where in the world did you get that idea?
Curveballs and sliders are the dangerous pitches.
Maybe had Hughes stuck to his previous spring ritual which is to pump heat and work on the offspeed stuff as you go along….He was applauded by his critics during his last 2-3 outings simply for this, he worked of offspeed pitches and not so much the heater….Now he gets the business for not dialing it up to 94 because he’s been working on touch and feel pitches and the arm strength is a week or two behind his normal routine….But we do have the I told you so brigade to carry the torch….Personally, I find this all very entertaining as it really does expose the lack of baseball here and all the little petty self righteousness personnel campaigns that swallow up the LoHud Yankee Blog
Bo Knows…..Randy is logical and makes too much sense, therefore he’s on the endangered species list here….
Accidents happen in an instant, scars last a lifetime
Doreen says:
April 4, 2011 at 6:11 am
Good morning, morning people.
Most days 7 runs will get the Yankees a win. Sometimes you have a bad day, I guess. Obviously I did not and will not read back, but did I read a post that said people want to change the batting order? Seems to me that the hitting has been just fine and Hughes got hurt by one of the best hitters in the AL.
Not going to start worrying three games into the season and certainly not going to expect the Yankees to win every game or to lose pretty in the games they lose.
good morning early birds!
another day, another game…wish the pitching would have been better yesterday, but you can’t complain about the offense…well I guess some will…anyway Detroit has a strong line up, so 2 out of 3 aint bad
Upstate kate
That’s what the song says!
yeah, I must be on a Meatloaf kick…the other day it was Phil Rizzuto and Paradise By The Dashboard Light
Good morning
I said yesterday that if the Yanks win every series this season I’ll be quite happy. I think the Yanks are good, but I did not expect 162-0!
Kate,
Meatloaf has been on TV a lot with all of those Celebrity Apprentice commercials.
Fran
I cannot sign into my team. How am I doing?
Wouldn’t it just be a hoot if Beckett gets shellacked in Cleveland?
Doreen,
You are doing well. I am ahead, but you have 120 points. And you have pitcher starts still to go.
Hope you are enjoying your vacation
RIB
couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!
Fran
I am so enjoying fantasy baseball! Of course I have already become obsessed.
Kate,
Your team is doing very well. Told you that once you start, you’ll become hooked
Thanks Fran!
Good morning morning people! I was bummed about us losing yesterday but encouraged by the 4 home runs.
Tonight Ivan Nova, my favorite Yankee rookie starts and he is also on my fantasy team so in addition to always wanting him to do well, ill want him to do extra good, if not ill survive. I have a lot of Twins on my roster so whatever happens.
Whoever it is I’m head to head with though is killing me. He has CC and Felix. I’ve got Matt Cain at least.
Hey everyone, I know there are some technical smarties here, and I can use some help. Found out that my cablevision promotional package is coming to an end and my bill will jump 45 dollars a month if I choose to keep my current package which includes YES. This is over 500 dollars extra a year. Wife saying this is too much, let’s drop the package and lose YES. This will kill me….are there other cheaper options? I have an Ipad, how is MLB TV is it cheaper and can I watch it on the ipad or somehow get it to my TV? Something else besides MLB TV? I live in Brooklyn… it looks like MLBTV blacks out live games?
thanks so much!
No real surprise that so many are already jumping off the Phil Hughes band wagon after one start…..
Yes his velocity was down….yes he needs an out secondary pitch, but that’s why he spent all spring working on this stuff and was trying to develop the new cutter/slider…..which was really good in his last spring outing but not so much yesterday. I think Pat M made a good point about him possibly focusing so much on secondary stuff this spring that he may not have aired out his fastball enough to get his arm strength up there yet…..who knows.
I do know it’s too early to make evaluations on pitchers…..if he’s still throwing 89 with a flat slider by his 3rd or 4th start then Ill start to have concerns and wonder what going on.
Tyanks,
Hope Nova wins for the Yanks and your fantasy team
*******
Johnnycat,
Can you get FiOS? I live in Queens and have FiOs. Includes YES and is much Lower prices than Cablevision or TWC and better.
phil will be phine.
well, yesterdays homerfest was sure entertaining!
Ys
how did you like the new YS? You got to see an exciting game!
I picked up prizes for GTLU
i had miguel cabrera #3 on my fantasy draft board, but he was being picked at about #8 or 9, the result is that i have cabrera on almost all my teams. so while i would have been glad to catch and throw back his 2 dingers, i knew that my fantasty teams were all cashing in.
Blake hoping that Phil will bounce back, we already have a concern with #4 & 5 and if Phil strugglers it won’t help that situation.
Hopefully we get a good pitched game from Nova today and can get to the strength of the BP that worked well in the first two games. Both Phil and Colon struggled mightly yesterday and we couldn’t get to a game situation where we could trot out the late inning studs.
Doreen,
I hope Joe Girardi likes the prize
J/K. I know we can beat him.
well, i certainly was impressed! it is huge. im going to wait till i go again before i really comment. we got there in the 2nd because of family issues so we didnt go exploring ( i have this quaint idea that you should watch the game and not go shopping while its being played.
we had an awesome time even though they lost.
but the main thing i remember is seeing the blue plywood and crying…
It was nice to see Jorge drive the ball, heading for 40 it’s a good sign that he still has the power to jack them out.
Mauer is on my Fantasy team. Always the bad situation when one of your top players is playing your team.
Max Scherzer (who is a good young pitcher also)…..Struggled nearly as badly as Hughes did yesterday. Yesterday wasn’t ideal by any means….but its too early to make a ton of IMO. Really excited to see Nova pitch tonight.
I have Mauer and Martin on my team……trying to decide who to play tonight, the fact that Im even having to consider suggests how well Martin is playing right now.
Blake, Mauer usually hits the Yanks pretty well. He’s my catcher so in my case it’s less of a decision
“I have Mauer and Martin on my team……trying to decide who to play tonight”
Should be no contest. You always play your best guy. Three games doesn’t change who a guy is. You think that, you should drop ‘em both and pick up Ryan Hannigan.
*You think that WAY,…..
Good morning
Decided to by-pass the blog yesterday after I saw the results of the game. Need to be in the right mood for the disection I’m guessing was taking place.
# of HRs hit this weekend (both in the Bronx and elsewhere) was impressive. Records set in the Bronx and Arlington for a 3 game set.
Mell,
It does when one is a Yankee…..clouds my judgement. I don’t like watching the game and pulling for a guy on the other team to get a hit
“# of HRs hit this weekend (both in the Bronx and elsewhere) was impressive. Records set in the Bronx and Arlington for a 3 game set.”
Watched a decent chunk of the Red Sox/Rangers and the most impressive thing I saw was Matt Harrison. Wow! Don’t know if it was because the sun was shining on him right on this particular day or what, but he had just electric stuff.
Ys
We go super early so we can look around. Once the game starts I sit there keeping score. My husband kindly does the concession runs.
Morning!
Rob dibble is critizing russell Martin calling him a bad game caller. He said martin is making yankee pitchers show their entire arsenal in the first inning. Don’t agree with him but whatever!
“Rob dibble is critizing russell Martin calling him a bad game caller. He said martin is making yankee pitchers show their entire arsenal in the first inning. Don’t agree with him but whatever”
I’d think that if the Yankees had any problem with his game calling, they’ll address with him. I don’t really know whether Dibble’s assessment is legit or not, but I thought yesterday was more about Hughes bringing a knife to a gunfight more than anything else. He just didn’t have much of anything.
Hi Betsy!
Benny
AJ seemed to have a lot of faith in Martin’s game calling from his post game comments…that means more to me than anything Dibble says.
Rob Dribble? You know that when he says something, the opposite must be true.
Hi Kate!
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports.....RqjOJ72LbP
Or do you want the really, really, really troubling news? That this has been going on for weeks. That pitching coach Larry Rothschild and Hughes already have tried a bunch of remedies throughout spring training and — as of this moment — have unearthed neither a reason why the righty has lost fastball life nor a way to solve the deficiency.
Hughes thinks his arm swing is too long. Rothschild says that maybe more long tossing will provide a solution. Joe Girardi talks still about Hughes needing to build arm strength when we just finished that little thing called spring training which — above all else — is stretched to six weeks so pitchers can build arm strength.
Mell
I saw some of that Rangers/Sox game and thought “Who’s Matt Harrison and where did he come from?”. He did look good.
Arm strength and velocity can be a funny thing sometimes…..it can go away and.come.back for no apparent reason. Bumgardner’s velocity was way down at the start of last season…folks were criticizing the Giants and everything else for rushing him etc, then all of the sudden it started to come back and we all saw what he did at the end of the year.
It could be a slight mechanical thing with Hughes, it could be lingering hangover from the innings jump last year, could be that he just didn’t air it out enough this spring to build it up…..who knows. I do know its very early in the season to be overly concerned about velocity.
Pat:
Harrsion was yet another piece of the Teixeira to Braves trade from a few seasons back.
I watched most of the Rangers/Sox series….what jumped through the screen at me is how long and dangerous the Rangers lineup is….its right there with the Yanks 1-9.
The blasted Teixera trade….
I’m not concerned @ all re: Hughes velocity. He’ll regain the same form he had last year.
What this all should show the Yankees organization is no matter how much you baby these guys, they’re going to hit some bumps in the road.
JMO, but these guys are better off on the Nolan Ryan path than the Joba Chamberlain/ Phil Hughes path of taking guys out in the 5th/6th due to pitch counts and limiting innings during the stretch of a season.
Blake, it’s true about Bumgardner – and his prospect status plummeted because of it. They never figured out what happened. What I find odd is that Phil is saying his command isn’t good enough to live at 89-90. I always thought he had good command, but I suppose you have to have Maddux-like command (not saying Maddux was a soft-tosser) to live there. The arm strength thing doesn’t make a lot of sense because it’s what ST is for. It’s too early to panic, of course…….I don’t think he’s injured and that’s a positive.
Betsy,
Maddux had an incredible change up and great fastball movement as well though. Hughes does have good fastball command but his whole game is built off having a plus fastball and plus fastball “life”…..I think what he means is that his current arsenal isn’t built to be successful without that…..and its probably not. He means that his velocity needs to be good enough for him to be aggressive in the zone.
“I watched most of the Rangers/Sox series….what jumped through the screen at me is how long and dangerous the Rangers lineup is….its right there with the Yanks 1-9.”
Yeah, tough lineup. Biggest problem with them is that half of ‘em have proven to be made of glass. If Kinsler, Cruz and Hamilton enjoy reasonably good health, they are very dangerous. They also have the best 4th OF in the league.
I’m not a big believer in a pitcher feeling he needs a bunch of pitches to be successful.
Nor do I think you have to have some systematic breakdown of pitch variety in each start.
A well located fastball is still the best pitch in baseball.
In other words. A well located 88 MPH fastball, Greg Maddux’s bread and butter for years, will still get major league hitters out.
I thought Hughes’ biggest problem yesterday was poor location and not velocity.
If he locates well, even at 89-91, what he was throwing yesterday, he can get outs.
Mell,
I agree..health is an issue with them but if Andrus js going to hit like he has since the playoffs and Cruz, Kinsler, and Hamilton stay healthy…..then they are going to be a hand full again if they can sort their pitching situation out.
Count on Larry Rothschild making Phil Hughes his No. 1 priority. The between starts bullpen session that Hughes has will be watched like a hawk by the Yankee pitching coach.
Meantime, Ivan Nova is the No. 1 focus tonight.
At 88-90 a lot of those foul balls Hughes gives up will be going in the opposite direction.
If you watched the game yesterday….Hughes still got quiet a few late swings on fastballs. He got hurt primarily by hanging pitches to a great hitter……
I am a big Hughes believer but not really sure he can be really effective at 88-90 given the current quality of his secondary pitches.
Also there is a chance that his lack if command yesterday was caused by the same thing as his lack of velocity.
SJ,
I 100% agree with you re: location vs. velocity.
Issue with that is:
1. I don’t think we can expect Phil hughes to be Greg Maddux, who is a HOF pitcher known for his location, especially at age 24, nevermind ever.
2. You’d have to agree that the higher the velocity, the larger the spread between FB and offspeed pitches. A large part of Hughes’ issues last year was an “out” pitch and putting guys away. Even a well located 88-91 FB can be fouled off 2-3 times, eventually leading to a mistake by the pitcher, in this case hughes.
One last thought……
Folks need to stop analyzing baseball as if it’s football.
The media is as big an offender of this as some fans are.
It leads to the ridiculous conclusions such as CC is a “bust”, as we saw two years ago, to making definitive conclusions on teams/players after 3 games.
It’s a LONG season.
Last year, AJ started out 4-0 and was 6-2 in May until the wheels fell off.
My point is, a LOT can happen in a long season and reaching definitive conclusions about players and teams is just dumb.
We already have a new generation of dumbells filling this blog with idiocy on a daily basis. Dont add to it.
Break the season down in quadrants…….
Now until Memorial Day….
Memorial Day to the 4th of July…….
The 4th of July to the trade deadline…..
The trade deadline to the final stretch……
If you do that, you will actually enjoy the ride instead of being panicked over every little thing.
After all, following this team is not only supposed to be fun, they are a helluva lot more successful than just about every other team in the game.
Despite all the “flaws” people seem to obsess over daily.
LGY,
Take a good look at Hughes’ first 10 starts last year.
He was throwing mostly fastballs 90-92 and his location was impeccable.
1-2 MPH isn’t going to make a difference.
JMO but, he is too pre-occupied with his secondary pitches right now.
When you struggle, you get back to basics.
Get back to establishing is fastball and not get concerned with contact.
If he does that, everything else will follow.
Good morning, all –
1. I don’t care what Rob Dibble says, about Russell Martin’s pitch selection, or anything else. Dibble is a talking head, who job it is to say something critical, something different. Otherwise, he has no justification for a paycheck, and they’ll let him go and hire someone who will take a position just to be different.
2. OK, I’ve never played the game, but everything I’ve ever read/heard says that the best pitch is a well-placed fastball, regardless of speed. As long as Phil isn’t hurt, it will come around, I think. So, he had a bad game. So did a bunch of other pitchers this past weekend. He’ll get over it.
3. I also think Cash is on to something. About blogs keeping psychos off the street. I never thought of LoHud as performing a public service, but, maybe it does.
Maybe Chad can qualify for a community service award.