Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Hughes shaky but still leading 5th spot fight


Phil Hughes had a shaky outing against the Philadelphia Phillies, but still seems like he has the edge in the battle for the fifth starter spot in the New York Yankees rotation, the winner of which should be announced later this week.

Manager Joe Girardi was on the line doing a live interview with the YES Network broadcast team when Hughes gave up a loud home run. Girardi's response: pitchers have to make quality pitches and that pitch was right down the middle. Hughes settled down for a while, but later gave up two more home runs, including the game winner in the 9th inning. However, both Girardi and Hughes liked what they saw, with the youngster honing his pitches before the end of spring training and Girardi blaming the rough winds for the homers and saying it was Hughes best stuff.

Despite a recent rough outing, Alfredo Aceves has pitched better than Hughes. But it seems like his flexibility is working against him, as he can serve as both the long man out of the bullpen and a spot starter if necessary. Although he pitched better yesterday against his own hitters in an intrasquad game, Joba has pitched his way out of the rotation fight and will likely be in the bullpen when the season begins.

Thanks to Mandalatv via en.Wikipedia for the photo.

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