Phil Hughes must secretly believe he's the ace of the New York Yankees staff. At least he's pitching like he does.
After winning the fifth starter job, Hughes has put up some noteworthy numbers so far: a 3-0 record, a 1.44 ERA and 0.88 WHIP. He's walking a few too many batters (12) compared to strikeouts (24), but he hasn't let the extra base runners hurt him.
The most impressive thing for me about the performance by Hughes yesterday was that he did not get rattled, especially on a botched call by home-plate umpire Dan Iassogna. It looked for a moment that Hughes might become unglued (I myself would have as I was yelling at my television). But he quickly collected himself, got back on the mound and made the dangerous Paul Konerko miss for strike three. It was a remarkable sign of maturity for Hughes, whose confidence is just skyrocketing right now.
With the struggles of the bullpen (except for Mariano Rivera) and the inconsistent offense, the Yankee starting pitching has mostly carried the team so far this year. AJ Burnett is shedding his Mr. Erratic image, Andy Pettitte is defying Father Time and Hughes is proving that youth is just a state of mind. He’s the best number #5 starter in the big leagues right now, probably because he thinks he’s #1.
After winning the fifth starter job, Hughes has put up some noteworthy numbers so far: a 3-0 record, a 1.44 ERA and 0.88 WHIP. He's walking a few too many batters (12) compared to strikeouts (24), but he hasn't let the extra base runners hurt him.
The most impressive thing for me about the performance by Hughes yesterday was that he did not get rattled, especially on a botched call by home-plate umpire Dan Iassogna. It looked for a moment that Hughes might become unglued (I myself would have as I was yelling at my television). But he quickly collected himself, got back on the mound and made the dangerous Paul Konerko miss for strike three. It was a remarkable sign of maturity for Hughes, whose confidence is just skyrocketing right now.
With the struggles of the bullpen (except for Mariano Rivera) and the inconsistent offense, the Yankee starting pitching has mostly carried the team so far this year. AJ Burnett is shedding his Mr. Erratic image, Andy Pettitte is defying Father Time and Hughes is proving that youth is just a state of mind. He’s the best number #5 starter in the big leagues right now, probably because he thinks he’s #1.
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