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After being rained out in GCL and Tampa, Phil Hughes will make his first rehab start tonight for Charleston. I have no idea about innings/pitches (it will be very minimal, we can be sure of that) but it is nice to see him on the comeback trail. If Ponson and Rasner continue to suck, we don't land a Jarrod Washburn, and Wang continues to be a question mark, Hughes may actually play a bigger role down the stretch than people anticipate, and we all know how incredible he was for us when it counted most last season.

He has had a really tough go from day one in the majors, he has been the youngest pitcher in baseball each of the past two seasons while dealing with major injuries in both seasons. He has had everything go against him so far so I am really pulling for him. Of course almost all of the hype around him has faded, but we can't forget what made him the #1 prospect in all of baseball just one year ago. Hopefully he regains what he has lost through the injuries and struggles and finds his way at some point, because if he even comes close to his potential we will have a very good pitcher on our hands to combine with Joba for years to come.

I don't care how hard he's throwing anymore, I just want to see good command and a good curveball.

91-93 with a good curveball and good command makes him John Lackey... good enough.

this is assuming he doesnt get a sunburn gettin to the park that puts him on the DL again....

I still have faith in him. I'm almost more excited to watch him pitch again than the regular Yankee game. Nothing would be sweeter than a Yankee win and Hughes pitching two perfect innings. -Jitpal

2 innings. 14 pitches. 1BB 0K. Obviously he didn't get to his pitch count and dominated but the no strikeouts is a concern. You would think he would be able to strike out a few class A hitters. Let's see what happens next time out to see if it is a big deal. -Jitpal

Check that, he went 3 innings. 2 hits and 1K. Interesting. I have a feeling he will be up soon. -Jitpal

Well, compared to Homer Bailey, another former #1 prospect who has been a disappointment thus far...Hughes has been held back because of injuries while Bailey has just flat out not pitched well at all.

Edge - Phil Hughes.

Jitpal wrote:2 innings. 14 pitches. 1BB 0K. Obviously he didn't get to his pitch count and dominated but the no strikeouts is a concern. You would think he would be able to strike out a few class A hitters. Let's see what happens next time out to see if it is a big deal. -Jitpal

Check that, he went 3 innings. 2 hits and 1K. Interesting. I have a feeling he will be up soon. -Jitpal

Really? A disappointment that he didn't strike a guy out? He needed 14 pitches to get through 2 innings, and all you can worry about is that he didn't strike a guy out in his first innings of work in 3 full months. Be happy that he was sitting at 93 with his fastball and was getting quick, easy outs. Worry about the strikeouts when he isn't just trying to get healthy.

nykgeneralmanager wrote:

Jitpal wrote:2 innings. 14 pitches. 1BB 0K. Obviously he didn't get to his pitch count and dominated but the no strikeouts is a concern. You would think he would be able to strike out a few class A hitters. Let's see what happens next time out to see if it is a big deal. -Jitpal

Check that, he went 3 innings. 2 hits and 1K. Interesting. I have a feeling he will be up soon. -Jitpal

Really? A disappointment that he didn't strike a guy out? He needed 14 pitches to get through 2 innings, and all you can worry about is that he didn't strike a guy out in his first innings of work in 3 full months. Be happy that he was sitting at 93 with his fastball and was getting quick, easy outs. Worry about the strikeouts when he isn't just trying to get healthy.

Where did I say disappointment? I just wanted to know how many swings and misses he got but obviously 14 pitches through 2 innings is ridiculously good. I did say we would see in the coming weeks if it was a concern. Don't get me wrong, I'm not Kandi. Not only do I have faith in Hughes, he has quickly become one of my favorites. -Jitpal

Jitpal wrote:

nykgeneralmanager wrote:

Jitpal wrote:2 innings. 14 pitches. 1BB 0K. Obviously he didn't get to his pitch count and dominated but the no strikeouts is a concern. You would think he would be able to strike out a few class A hitters. Let's see what happens next time out to see if it is a big deal. -Jitpal

Check that, he went 3 innings. 2 hits and 1K. Interesting. I have a feeling he will be up soon. -Jitpal

Really? A disappointment that he didn't strike a guy out? He needed 14 pitches to get through 2 innings, and all you can worry about is that he didn't strike a guy out in his first innings of work in 3 full months. Be happy that he was sitting at 93 with his fastball and was getting quick, easy outs. Worry about the strikeouts when he isn't just trying to get healthy.

Where did I say disappointment? I just wanted to know how many swings and misses he got but obviously 14 pitches through 2 innings is ridiculously good. I did say we would see in the coming weeks if it was a concern. Don't get me wrong, I'm not Kandi. Not only do I have faith in Hughes, he has quickly become one of my favorites. -Jitpal

Fair enough

bove310 wrote:Well, compared to Homer Bailey, another former #1 prospect who has been a disappointment thus far...Hughes has been held back because of injuries while Bailey has just flat out not pitched well at all.

Edge - Phil Hughes.

Given the track records of young, talented pitchers with injury issues, it's not much of an edge, if one at all. I know the team could use some contribution from Phil, but his top priority for this year is to get healthy and get back in the swing of things.

Jitpal wrote:

nykgeneralmanager wrote:

Jitpal wrote:2 innings. 14 pitches. 1BB 0K. Obviously he didn't get to his pitch count and dominated but the no strikeouts is a concern. You would think he would be able to strike out a few class A hitters. Let's see what happens next time out to see if it is a big deal. -Jitpal

Check that, he went 3 innings. 2 hits and 1K. Interesting. I have a feeling he will be up soon. -Jitpal

Really? A disappointment that he didn't strike a guy out? He needed 14 pitches to get through 2 innings, and all you can worry about is that he didn't strike a guy out in his first innings of work in 3 full months. Be happy that he was sitting at 93 with his fastball and was getting quick, easy outs. Worry about the strikeouts when he isn't just trying to get healthy.

Where did I say disappointment? I just wanted to know how many swings and misses he got but obviously 14 pitches through 2 innings is ridiculously good. I did say we would see in the coming weeks if it was a concern. Don't get me wrong, I'm not Kandi. Not only do I have faith in Hughes, he has quickly become one of my favorites. -Jitpal

nice cheap shot
remind me again what Pavano #2 has done this year other than get bombed back to the DL? oh thats right, nothing

Pharmcat wrote:nice cheap shot
remind me again what Pavano #2 has done this year other than get bombed back to the DL? oh thats right, nothing

Just calling 'em as I see 'em Kandi. What he has done this year is now irrelevant, what he could possibly do this year is. If he can come in and repeat what he did last September by going 3-0 with a 2.73 ERA this team will get a huge boost. Worst case scenario, he will be better than Ponson. -Jitpal

Anyone else find it interesting that Hughes was not wearing glasses while pitching yesterday? Maybe he was wearing contacts, but still interesting. -Jitpal

I noticed that too, I remember Hughes making a joke about how funny he will look wearing the glasses when he gets back. Maybe he didn't feel comfortable in them and they found a different solution with contacts or something.

Nonsense. Glasses will give Phil a Madduxian studlyness.

But he also has to learn to hit the longball.

Hughes just finished up his second rehab outing, going 3.2 innings allowing 1 hit, 1 BB, and striking out 5. He got Ks on both his fastball and curve, both looking and swinging.

What was really interesting was that the radar gun was showing 95+ consistently, even with a 98 and 101 on there. Now we all know Hughes wasn't throwing that hard, but even if the gun is slightly off, he is obviously throwing harder than he was earlier this year or last year after the leg injury. Also, the same gun was showing Pavano at 90-93 and the opposing pitcher at 90, so it clearly wasn't juiced as would be your first reaction.

Now let me say this...I am one of the few people not concerned about his velocity and don't think he has to throw 95 to be successful. However, I would be VERY excited if he was throwing 94 consistently once again as he was in 2006, for one reason: mechanics. When Hughes was throwing 94-95 at times in 2006, he was doing it with perfect mechanics and pinpoint command that got him to the majors at just 20 years old. Naturally, cleaner mechanics leads to more velocity and the best command. Hughes went south when his command went south, and his velocity followed. When a pitcher loses both of those things at the same time, you can more often than not point to mechanics being the issue, which would be reasonable as he began to favor his leg last year (it was in a brace even after months of recovering) and that led to bad habits as he built up his leg strength over the winter. So I'd be thrilled if he is throwing 94/95 because that means his command is likely coming back as well, which is what he will need more than an extra tick or two on the radar gun. Hughes always had a late life fastball, so 93 for him looks like some other guy's 95. I just hope this is all true, because if so, then we may have the #1 prospect in baseball Phil Hughes back on our hands.

From what the stadium said, the gun was accurate in everyone else's so one should assume that it was right for Phil. I still find it extremely odd but hey Mo's fastball inexplicably rose 4-6 MPH.

The fact is, even if the gun if 5 or 6 miles off (which is a lot), then Phil still hit 95/96.

Don't get your hopes up, guys.

Phil sits 91-93 and can occasionally rear back and get to 94-95. I am more concerned about his command and his curveball than I am about a few extra ticks on his fastball.

cmaff051 wrote:Don't get your hopes up, guys.

Phil sits 91-93 and can occasionally rear back and get to 94-95. I am more concerned about his command and his curveball than I am about a few extra ticks on his fastball.

Like I said, no chance in hell Hughes is hitting upper 90s, especially on a rehab start. But even if the readings are a little off (which they obviously were), as Vinny said, it wouldn't be 10 mph off. Hughes when right in terms of arm strength and mechanics can comfortable sit 93-94 with ease, he did it down the stretch in 2006 which is the last time he was healthy.

As I said, the only reason 93-95 would excite me is for the simple fact that it would mean his mechanics are sound, which would hopefully bring back the command that made him the #1 prospect in baseball just a year ago.

I can't wait. Before the end of August, I think Hughes will be up. Probably after Ponson's next start. Hughes will get one, maybe two more rehab starts and then be back up here. -Jitpal