Despite his struggles, Phil Hughes continues to impress me with his maturity. To his credit, Hughes stood up and took responsibility for last night's loss after failing to close out the 7th inning and giving up the Yankee lead. He was missing his spots with his fastball, which Hughes said was due to his trying to be "too fine." I love the fact that he was mature enough to put the loss on his shoulders, even though it wasn't completely his fault. Outside their half of the 7th, the Yankees had chances to score and failed to do so.
Hughes could have lost his composure after Game 2, when the Yankees defense collapsed behind him. Instead, he stood in front of his locker and resisted any urge to take shots at his teammates. His mature responses stand in sharp contrast to John Lackey's tantrums during this postseason. Yes, he should not have been taken out of the game, but he also didn't have to pout like a four-year old after his team's comeback. Hughes is behaving more like the veteran than Lackey.
Hughes said he hasn't lost confidence and I hope that is true. I'm rooting for him to return to his regular season form and be the dominant set-up man that Mariano Rivera deserves.
Thanks to Mandalatv via en.wikipedia for the photo.
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