Tonight RHP Phil Hughes (10-1, 3.17) vs. LHP Cliff Lee (6-3, 2.39) 7:05 p.m., MY9 Wednesday RHP Javier Vazquez (6-6, 5.16) vs. RHP Felix Hernandez (5-5, 3.28) 7:05 p.m., YES Network Thursday LHP CC Sabathia (9-3, 3.49) vs. TBA 1:05 p.m., YES Network Hughes not looking very sharp so far. Really missing his spots.
The worst part about this loss isn't that Hughes pitched awful against one of the worst hitting teams in baseball, it's that it has led to the ridiculous "Oh noes! Another Joba Rules!" BS. Hughes has not pitched "great" in about a month. Over his last three starts he has given up 14 runs in 18.1 innings. Two of those starts are without any extra rest. It's really tiring watching people bitch about the Yankees' approach to young pitching. They're trying to protect their young arms. As they spoke about on last night's postgame show, when Strasburg hits 110 innings, he's getting shut down for the year. Period. The only reason that's not bigger news is because the Nationals won't be competing for a playoff spot. I've argued with people who say "Sandy Koufax just PITCHED! He didn't need 'rules.'" Okay, well Sandy Koufax pitched 12 seasons of major league baseball. I'd like to believe Hughes can have a career longer than 12 years, given that two of them are already gone. The kid has hit a rough patch. It's going to happen. Throughout his career. Interestingly enough, it's been while Eiland was away. He's back now. I expect that by the time the All-Star break rolls around, the pitching will be much better. Speaking of better pitching, how about Chan Ho not Sucking? Probably saved his job last night. Hopefully he's got himself figured out. We need the pen to get stronger. I don't know what the deal currently is with Mitre, but at least one Yankee is actively rehabbing. Thames will be DHing in Scranton tonight. Anyway, it was nice to see Swisher own Lee. It was also nice to see the Yankees mount a comeback on Lee in the ninth. Tired or not, they still got to him. Had ARod's earlier shot not hung up, who knows what happens?
Agreed. The big problem with the Yankees is that they don't have the luxury of babying a guy that way. The Yankees always play more than 162, so they need guys to be ready to go further. The situation with Hughes Rules isn't ideal, but unfortunately they're the only way. Unless of course Cashman sucks it up, trades one of the catchers, and gets Lee to agree to a sign-and-deal. Granted, CC, AJ, Andy, Javy should be enough starters for the playoffs, but with the exception of Andy all of them have been shaky at points. I'm actually fully confident in CC as well, but still, CC and Andy isn't Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Yeah, seriously, don't feed into the madness. By the end of the year the "Hughes Rules" will be something to look back and laugh at.
^ Speaking of Lee...what a frigging audition this guy has been putting on over the last month. He deserves everything he can get.
Nah, there's always a choice. I'm not saying I disagree with the choice they've made (although, personally, I think Hughes has been fine, and has developed enough by age 24 to just let him throw 200+ innings this year), but my point is more that the two situations are not equal. If they really, really cared about his arm/future, they would shut him down. Resting him now and spreading out his starts is less optimal (health-wise and performance-wise) than keeping him on normal rest and shutting him down completely when he hits his cap. If they have decided that they are concerned about his arm fatiguing and want to give him some rest, it's still better than nothing, but it's not the same. That's probably the smartest thing they could do. Trade for/sign Lee, move Hughes to the pen around the beginning of September to limit his innings (and have him for the playoffs). Done and done.
I agree. Again, the problem is it's the Yankees, and it's hard to tell this media/fanbase "Yeah, we know he's our best pitcher not named Carsten, Andrew or Mariano, but we're going to shelve him, even though we're going to the playoffs." I really think it's a "we're doing it this way because it's better than nothing" deal. Personally, I'll take what I can get. I don't want Hughes blowing his innings limit. This year isn't as important to me as the next 15. Wow. This is one time when I think we're in complete agreement. The only problem would obviously be the incessant "You're RUINING Hughes like you DID TO JOBA!!!! RAAWR!!!111ONEONEONE" nonsense. And God forbid he has a bad outing at any point after that, and we'll never hear the end of "SEE!!! SEE!!! You ruined ANOTHER pitcher!!! The Rules SUCK!!!"
Life's not easy. You have to make hard choices. And Cashman and Girardi get paid to make those hard choices. If the concern about Hughes was really that great, you shelve him and that's that. You don't let the media/fans dictate your personnel moves. But I don't think they think that. I think they're just trying to protect him somewhat, but are doing it in an inefficient manner. I'd rather they just turn him loose completely, more or less. There's enough history there to show that the risk to Hughes' arm at this point is minimal. He's already thrown 146 innings at one point in his career. He's 24, and so mostly fully developed, physically... and the lack of physical development is usually given as the culprit in arm injuries in young pitchers. His mechanics are clean. His past injuries haven't been arm injuries (well, there was one back in 2005, I think, when he was 19. His innings out of the pen last year should count a little more than innings as a starter due to leverage. And so on... That's not to say they should let him throw 230 innings or whatever. But this isn't a scrawny 21 year old who's never thrown more than 100 innings.
facing Lee then King Felix is not easy. Hopefully CC can stop the bleeding. It doesn't get easier, the Yanks struggle v. Toronto pitching and Toronto is lined up to bring the cheese in this series.
I agree that they need to ignore fan/media pressure. The problem is, look what happened when Joe Torre tried that. The fact is, when you play/manage in NYC, you're subject to a completely different environment than anywhere else. It's a big reason some guys refuse to play here, regardless of the money they could make. Overall, you're probably right, and the Yankees probably know it. Still, it's better to err on the side of caution. Besides, he's still going to get around his innings limit before the month's numeral turns to double-digits. So he's going to surpass any innings limit they've already established, and Girardi and Cashman have both stated flatly that Hughes is full-go in the playoffs. Innings limits are off if the month is October. I don't have a problem losing to Lee or Hernandez. I have a problem with giving up so many runs to one of the worst offensive teams in baseball. Two nights in a row. The pitching has been awful. It's still early, and Eiland has only been back for a couple days, but this is just disgusting. They should be embarassed at themselves. Anyway, some pitching "help" is due to arrive later today. Chad Moseley will be called up from Scranton and either Park or Gaudin will be DFA'd. More than likely the past two nights have both saved CHoP and doomed Gaudin. I don't know how much help he'll be though. In 72 innings he's got a 4.21ERA. He does have 3Ks to every BB though, which would be good coming out of the pen. He gives up a lot of hits though. He's given up 83 in those 72 innings. He's actually a starter, but I doubt they'll let him start. More likely he'll wind up in the long role. He's more than likely only being called up because if they Yankees don't call him up by midnight, he gets to be released and go wherever he wants. Unless the Yankees are in a tight game, expect to see both Park and Gaudin pitch today. Moseley won't be officially added to the roster until tonight, so both will more than likely get one last audition this afternoon before the final decision is made. So yay! Park and Gaudin this afternoon!
That wasn't Torre's problem. His problem was that he made asinine decisions and put too much stock in the "veteranness" of players. Whether he tried to cater to fan/media pressure was irrelevant to his tenure in NY. Right. I'm just not entirely convinced that skipping a start here and there is going to make much of a difference in the side of caution on which they are trying to err. At this point, let him go. Staying in a routine probably has as much benefit to lowering injury risk as does the 20 innings or so they might save by skipping him now and again. ETA: If they really want to limit his innings, move him to the pen at the end of the season.
Torre had multiple problems. One was, as you mentioned, his stock in "veteranness." Another was his caving to media pressure, like the decision to drop ARod in the playoff lineup. Another is his penchant for assuring a reliever blows out his elbow by the end of a season. Torre has a laundry list of reasons why he was driven out of town. I wasn't trying to say his "only" problem was his caving. His need to be a media buddy was a problem though. Yeah, I agree with you there. Especially considering that any of his October innings will be out of the pen anyway. Keep the routine, and go into a reduced role to close out the year. That would make the most sense. I'd bet the "plan" gets adjusted now anyway and this is what they do.
