Phil Hughes is climbing back and if anyone has the heart and drive to do it, Phil Hughes does. The Wall Street Journal has a great piece on his road back HERE. Remember, this is the Yankees Golden boy and reports are that he was touching 93 and 94 mph on the gun with the Staten Island Yankees in his first start. This slow rehab process to get his velocity up after his "dead arm, inflammatory" issue is working and that goodness, although, we haven't have a crying need for Phil Hughes lately, have we?
Bartolo Colon, the long man at the start of the season, became an overnight superstar and others have stepped up as well to fill Colon's void in the bullpen, as well as his starting spot since his injury. The pitching staff for the most part is doing quite remarkable and it helps.
So that begs the question, where does Phil Hughes go when he returns? I believe in not fixing something that ain't broke and I believe Bartolo Colon earned his starting spot. I feel almost like it's unfair to take it away from him when Hughes returns, but if you don't, where does Hughes go? Does he take Nova's spot? As you saw last night Nova pitched 8 great innings in the Yankees 5-3 win, if Nova pitches that way from now on, I'm not sure it's fair to move Nova either. Do you put Hughes in the bullpen and work he way back?
Something needs to be decided, I'm assuming around All-Star break time when Hughes is scheduled to return. That will give Nova another start or 2 and it will also give us a chance see how Brian Gordon is handling things while he fills in for Colon. Hughes is making progress though, and he's bound to keep it up. This past weekend, he pitched 4 1/3 innings and threw 41 strikes and struck out 7.
(Photo: David Gard)Hughes next stop will be Trenton Thunder and that will be exciting because it's him going back to his roots. If confidence is high and he pitches longer games and is effective, it's definitely another step toward Yankeeland. I really like this kid, and I wait until he returns at full strength. Stay tuned...
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