Hughes passes health test with flying colors

Thankfully, Phil Hughes is not suffering from a dangerous health condition. Now it's time to figure out what's really wrong with him.

I was truly worried that the tests would come back positive for thoracic outlet syndrome, something I’d never heard of until last week, but apparently not an uncommon condition among Major League Baseball pitchers. But to the great relief of his manager Joe Girardi, who openly admitted to being scared for his young pitcher, Hughes passed all the tests with flying colors. I’m sure Hughes is relieved to get a clean bill of health and be able to focus on baseball, but he’s probably more confused than ever.

The only downside of the tests coming back positive is that we now have no clue what’s happening with Hughes. At least TOS would have been an explanation for his troubles. It now seems that the original “dead arm” diagnosis was accurate and it’s a matter of strengthening his arm. But is it something that Hughes can recover from with a little rest and conditioning exercises? Or did the New York Yankees’ handling of his workload last year mess him up completely, the way it messed up Joba Chamberlain?

I certainly hope not. The kid is tough and talented so I believe he will bounce back and be better than ever. Only time will tell for sure. But Hughes is healthy and for him and the Yankees, that’s the best and most important news.