Phil Hughes vs Dustin McGowan

[risktaker91]

Who'd you rather have?

[TyCobb]

Phil Hughes.

[a-rod]

Phil Hughes.....

[Basketball Jesus]

Maybe if you forced Hughes to pitch underhand while balancing a pancake on his head then I'd probably take...nah, I'd still take Hughes.

[34Celtic]

Speechless....

[bigboy1234]

I'd take Hughes but it's close. McGowan's "stuff" is clearly better than Hughes', but Hughes has put up more impressive stats throughout his career.

[The Rondo Show]

I'm with bigboy, this one is close and I'm not sure why someone would be speechless over the comparison like 34Celtic did or act like it's ridiculous like BBJ did. Dustin McGowan is a damn good young pitcher.

I'll be the first one here to go with McGowan right now as I think his stuff has been better than what Hughes has shown in the starts I've seen of him. Although, I reserve the right to change my mind once I see how Hughes' stuff is in mid-May/early-June.

Hughes has sat 88-92 while topping out at 94 in the starts I've seen and he looks like a 2 pitch pitcher (fastball/curve) who has little confidence in his changeup in almost all of his starts. We'll see, I missed the Texas start and I've heard from some Yankee fans that his fastball had more velocity against them and that his changeup was effective and that the hamstring injury wasn't 100% healed and hurt his stuff, so it's possible that's the reason his stuff wasn't as good as it was hyped to be.

I watched his start against McGowan and the Jays and saw the same thing with his velocity and changeup. The lack of velocity might be because it's early in the year, but I've seen many scouting reports overhype minor leaguers velocity and until I see Hughes sitting 92-94 like I've heard he did, I'm not going to believe it.

Before a Yankee fan suggests that's just me being a homer/hater, you should realize I feel the same way about Clay Buchholz and his velocity probably/possibly being overhyped.

[nykgeneralmanager]

Even in the Texas game he was pretty much sitting about 92-94, and can sit 92-95 if he had been able to hit midseason form last season, thats the type of pitcher he is...and truthfully that is very hard. This is what he threw down in Trenton when he was dominating at that time, so why is everybody freaking out?

The thing about Hughes' velocity, though, is that he can get by and look dominant with a 93 mph fastball. Because his delivery is so incredibly compact and perfect, his fastball comes in looking like it is 97 mph and has incredible late life. That is why you see so many guys fouling his fastball off and being froze by it even when the radar reads 92.

He will begin to use his change more and more over time. If he has two dominant pitches at age 21 and is putting up the numbers that he is, then it will be extremely interesting to see what he does with 3 good pitches and his slider which he uses when necessary. Also, his curve is so effective because he has the loopy 12-6 and then a sharper 11-5 that he sometime uses. So even though he is basically a 2-pitch pitcher as of now, they are two extremely good pitches (with variations of each) and deadly control of all of them...plus the intangibles like the great poise and intelligence and his knowledge of how to pitch.

EDIT: I was at the game last night but the gun in the stadium didn't work until about the 4th or 5th inning, so I don't know what he was throwing on the YES gun before that. But when it started working, I saw two 95 mph and mostly 92 or 93. When you see the radar readings of 89 or 90 that is usually his 2-seamer.

So Hughes was sitting at 92-93 last night, for the most part. Considering that Mo was around 90 and Joba had a few pitches about 94-96, clearly these guys will be building up arm strength as the weather gets warmer. At that point, Hughes will be sitting in his regular 92-95 like he was pre-injury and down in Trenton, then all of this velocity non-sense will be put to rest.

[nykgeneralmanager]

Heres a pretty good article on Phil after Thursday's game:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04042008/sp ... htm?page=1

Hughes pitched six solid innings last night in the Yankees' come-from-behind, 3-2 victory over the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. He didn't figure in the decision, but he kept the Yankees in the game. All you had to do was watch him strike out Vernon Wells and Frank Thomas in the fourth to understand that.

The right-hander had just given up a run and Alex Rios was standing on third with one out. As the at-bat to Wells developed, Hughes threw a changeup followed by a 3-2 curve ball to earn the strikeout, something, he said, he didn't have the confidence to do last year.

And lets not forget that he was the youngest player in baseball last season and is the 2nd youngest player in the majors this season (2nd to Justin Upton, so he is the youngest pitcher). While Hughes is turning 22 this year, other top young pitchers like Buchholz, Lincecum, and Cain are turning 24. Who knows where Hughes will be in two full years.

[cmaff051]

This is a closer comparision than many are saying....

McGowan is very good.

[xAIRNESSx]

I like Hughes. I even have him on my fantasy team, but McGowan's going to have a better season than him.

[_venom_]

Now Hughes obviously has age on his side as he's 5 years younger than McGowan. As for actual repertoire of pitches, I'd give the edge to McGowan, but Hughes also seems to be better at controlling his pitches so it's really a toss-up. McGowan has four really nice pitches to use. His four-seam fastball has good movement to it and he consistently throws it 94-96 MPH. But he isn't just a hard thrower, he also has a good slider, curve, and changeup, and they all have good movement. McGowan's problems have always been his control, but he looks to finally be harnessing it. Hughes also has a good four-seamer with nice movement but less velocity. He also has a good 2-seam fastball and a very good curveball. The changeup is where Hughes needs the most work. A great changeup would really make him a terror on the mound. However, considering Hughes is extremely good at locating all his pitches, is calm on the mound, and he's considerably younger, then Hughes is the better pick for the future. For this season, I would go with McGowan though just on experience alone.

[Relentless88]

Dustin McGowan for this season, but Phil Hughes will be amazing. 5 years is a pretty big gap.

[raps4life~]

dustin mcgowan. phil hughes is way overated.

[raps4life~]

wowow is hughes sucking.

[A.J.]

Give me McGowan.