Hughes Handed Home Hype & High Hopes

Phil Hughes posted his first win of the season when he was the pitcher on record against the Detroit Tigers last week. Hughes was supposed to face the Halos Sunday, but the game was rained out. He will start tonight in a two-game homestand against the Boston Red Sox. Phil shut down the Tigers in six innings in his season debut as the Yankees routed Detroit. The 22 year old doesn’t have the pressure on him this year like he experienced in 2008. Last season, Hughes was slated to start every five days and be one of the aces on the mound. He did not live up to those expectations after the Yankees handed him the number three spot in the rotation. Hughes was shipped back to the minors and accepted a demotion before the year was over. Last Tuesday he filled in for the ineffective Chien-Ming Wang and proved to be the better option for New York. The Bombers got a huge boost from the righty in his Comerica Park outing. Hughes struck out six and tamed the Tigers to two hits. Phil has an opportunity to grow from that fine start. The Yankees have so much invested in Hughes and his unlimited potential has to be realized.
Hughes is a competent pitcher and I saw potential when he first debuted for the team in 2007. He looked like a kid just stepping out of high school, and still goes. That May, he flirted with and nearly threw a no-hitter.
Phil has endured a few setbacks so far in his young career since that dashing debut. He has been wildly inconsistent and twirled some dreadful games. He still showed a flippant fastball but Hughes was very unstable in his second year campaign. The 6’5” righty went 0-4 in 8 starts in 2008. He gave up 43 hits in 34 plus innings, issuing 15 walks. His ERA soared to a wretched 6.62 after keeping it under 4.50 his rookie year. The Yankees would like to see more of the 2007 version of Hughes when he went 5-3 in 72 innings of work. He was once the organization’s top prospect and believed to be as gifted as Roger Clemens. Hughes has a long way to go and many games to endure before he draws those unreal comparisons, but you had to like what you saw against Detroit. Having a surplus of starters would be a problem the team would embrace.
The Yankees were swept in Boston in their first series with the rivals of 2009. Hughes cannot afford any hiccups tonight because the Red Sox will take advantage of any minor mistakes. Tonight, Hughes will be contested as he faces the AL East’s best. Although they do hold the lead (Toronto is in first place), Boston does have a 15-10 record. Encouragingly, they are only 5-8 on the road in 2009. The team always plays to win. They are, however, 9-4 against AL East teams. The Yankees are only 3-6 in those games. Hughes has only one appearance against the hated Sox. Last April, he lost up in Fenway 8-5. He only lasted two innings and was charged with 7 of the 8 Boston runs.
The relief pitching is most important as the Yankees open the two game set, especially with left-hander, Damaso Marte on the DL. New York called up Anthony Claggett from Triple A Scranton-Wilkes Barre to take Marte‘s place. Robinson Cano’s 18 game hitting streak ended in Saturday’s tough loss with the Angels. Robinson’s defense has improved drastically and he is tearing the cover off the ball. Cano has been creaming and crushing the baseball since he took his first swing in April. The same is true for outfielder, Nick Swisher. Swisher may miss this series due to injury though. Mark Teixiera is notorious for slow spring starts. He was signed this winter to be the Yankee heavyweight in the heart of the order, and it would be delightful if he chose this series to pound it out. The Bomber bats will compete against Jon Lester in the Sox first appearance in the new Yankee Stadium. Lester dominated New York last year with his 1.19 ERA against the Bombers in three starts. He threw a shutout last July I am still trying to forget. Lester threw in the 11 inning affair this season between the two teams. He tossed six innings of two run ball. Which Lester will show up tonight? The one who beat New York a few weeks ago or the one who flopped in his last start? Hopefully the men in pinstripes won’t be his latest casualties. Which Hughes will take the ball? The bright dazzler of 2007 or the dim, doleful and dejected disappointment of 2008? It would be great to see Hughes welcome the Boston bats with un-hittable stuff.
Boston is coming off a losing effort against the Tampa Bay Rays. Sunday night, Boston allowed speedy Rays slugger, Carl Crawford, to steal six bases. Crawford tied the major league record for most in a game with his half dozen swipes. The bullpen is just as important for the Red Sox. In the first series up in Beantown, Boston’s bullpen out pitched New York and kept the Yankee bats silent in all three victories. The games were closer than the scores indicated, but the Red Sox relief pitching compensated for any Boston blips. During last evening’s 5-3 loss in Tampa, the bullpen could not sustain a strong outing from starter, Brad Penny. Reliever, Manny Demcarmen gave up his first earned run of the year and the team is now losers of 3 of their last 4 games. Delcarmen hit two Rays after giving up back-to-back singles when he was called into the game.
Terry Francona, the Sox skipper, fields one of baseball’s top starting lineups. The Red Sox can hit, field and do the little things needed to win. Pitcher, Josh Beckett, isn’t having a Beckett-like year, but the pitching is still very deep and accomplished. Penny is already 2-0 on the year, and Tim Wakefield’s knuckler stunned and shunned the Rays last weekend for his third victory. Righty, Justin Masterson is 2-1 and lefty, Lester is 1-2. Lester’s ERA is above 5 but Francona believes he will find his velocity and command again. He has been topsy-turvy on the hill as of late. Jonathan Papelbon is the Red Sox closer. He has 6 saves on the season. Boston will not wilt as long as they can depend on their arms.
Centerfielder, Jacoby Ellsbury, is the stud leadoff hitter. Ellsbury is hitting .276 and stole home on Andy Pettitte in an embarrassing Yankee moment at Fenway. The versatile Ellsbury exhibited Boston’s proactive playing style. Dustin Pedroia hits behind Ellsbury with a .309 batting average and dapper glove at second base. Pedroia peppers pitchers and plays with intensity. David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis pack the power in the three and four hole. Youkilis is particularly good with two outs in getting base hits, and his patience is a frustrating aspect for pitchers. DH Ortiz is not off to a good start, only batting .215. Big Papi realizes he is slumping early in the season and it is only a matter of time before he breaks out of it. Ortiz is looking for his first four baggers of the year and hopes to get it in the new stadium. His batting average has plummeted to .208 in the beginning of May.
Youkilis is lighting up the league with an over .400 average and spewing out 5 homeruns. J.D. Drew and Jason Bay play the corner outfield positions and bat next to each other in Francona’s lineup. Bay has been the most recent “Yankee killer” with his knockout blasts. The bleeders he sent out in the first series with New York are still being felt by fans. Bay has 20 RBIs on the season and steps to the plate with a respectable .316 average. Drew is batting under .250 but is a homerun hitter capable of starting rallies or finishing off teams with late game heroics. He has three long balls so far. Veteran third baseman, Mike Lowell, enjoys a bottom-of-the-order slot with his five homers. His team-leading 24 RBIs come with a .312 average on the young season. Catcher, Jason Varitek and SS, Julio Lugo round out the nine batters Hughes will face tonight. The pervasive captain, Varitek, clubbed four homeruns for 10 RBIs and Lugo is batting an even .300. Lugo is useful in turning the lineup over and getting important hits with runners on base. The Red Sox have been light-hitting and struggling offensively other than their outburst Saturday. The bottom four hitters went 0-14 yesterday for Boston. The team is being walloped and outscored but I think they will have success in the hitter friendly Bronx home.

Parting points: Befitting song for tonight- “Know Your Enemy” by Green Day
Link of the day:
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-253478