~~~Hughes actually pitched quite well except for the walks~~~

That’s like saying Tony Womack hit well as a Yankee – except for the outs that he made.

Watching Hughes pitch last night – I was at the game in Anaheim – the thing that stood out most was the kid’s poise. He just does not seem to get rattled, regardless of the situation; and I think that bodes well for him down the road.

With that said, Hughes does not come as advertised. He is a control pitcher with a sneaky fastball (He was consistently hitting 90-91 on the Angel’s Stadium gun, as was his counterpart). I remember reading something about him having an exploding fastball earlier in the season, but that just does not seem to be in his arsenal at this point. It’s still fun and rewarding to watch young, talented, farm-raised guys pitch though.

~~~My take on Hughes:

6 big league starts – 2 of which were great, 5/1 and 8/10. Three were duds, 4/26, 8/4 and 8/20. And, the other game, 8/15, was acceptable.~~~

Steve,

Did you actually watch the game last night? I doubt it, since if you did you couldn’t possibly call last night’s start a dud. Hughes actually pitched quite well except for the walks, left with a lead, and if Joe would have actually given him a chance to work out of the inning, could have finished the start giving up 3 runs in 7 innings. (He actually pitched better last night than on 8/15). I’ll take duds like that every time. You can’t blame Hughes for the Viz’s meltdown.

As for the rest of the game, once you go to Henn in the 10th you are pretty much conceding the loss. Reminded me of Jeff Weaver agst. the Marlins.

~~~take a look at the first two years of maddux and santana…~~~

Agreed, I wrote that this time last year:

“But, think about these facts. In his first season, Roger Clemens had an ERA of 4.32. In his first two seasons, Johan Santana had ERAs of 6.49 and 4.74. Greg Maddux, in his first full year, had an ERA of 5.61. The Big Unit, in his first full season, had an ERA of 4.82.

Not every star pitcher breaks into the game like a Doc Gooden or Pedro Martinez. So, what happens to Hughes, if, in his first season in the Bronx, he posts an ERA of 4.80 in 30 starts?

If you’re Chien-Ming Wang or Andy Pettitte and you do this, you will live to see another day. The hype was not there for them. But, for Philip Hughes, they way the Yankees and the media (and now the fans) speak of him, he almost has to win the Cy Young Award in his first season. And, is that going to happen?”

http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2006/07/maybe_they_shou.html

Melky took a bad angle to the ball and stupid Abreu sliding in Melky’s vision made the catch impossible.

They would have lost eventually anyway. They lucked out with Farnsworthless to begin with.

ESPN’s gun had him consistently 94. hitting 95 and 96. realistically that means he was throwing 92, and hitting 94. his fastball wasn’t really getting hit – if he was ONLY throwing 90, then he made a lot of guys look bad with JUST 90 mph gas. he just has to get more consistent command of all his pitches, but that’s to be expected from a just-turned 21-year-old. his WHIP is less than pettitte, wang and moose, and .01 above roger. his OPS Against is lower than ANY of the big four. there’s been a lot of bad luck so far for him. but once it and his control improves a bit, watch out!

i know you would love Hughes to turn into Benes just to prove you right. he’s made 6 starts (4 after missing 3 months) and you’re implying (you would never come out and say it) he’s a bust already?!

take a look at the first two years of maddux and santana…

~~~it wouldn’t be a disaster if it turned out that way.~~~

Agreed.

Sure does. But I was only talking about last night, and what I saw on ESPN, admittedly without seeing every pitch. Incidentally, I don’t think Andy Benes is a bad comp at all, he was a very good pitcher for almost 10 years, underrated because his best years were with the Pads, and with less injuries might’ve been something real special. Though I’d be disappointed if that was his ceiling, it wouldn’t be a disaster if it turned out that way.

Personally, I think many of you are reading too much into the radar gun readings.

Something that has bothered me about the bullpen management is the “reliever per inning” mindset. Granted, it may not have been the reason they lost last night, but it would’ve been nice to see someone go longer than an inning.

~~~I understand the criticism and disappointment over Hughes in light of the hype over “Franchise,” but honestly, I sometimes wonder if you all are watching a different game from me when he pitches (it happens reading the Banter too). ESPN had his fastball consistently at 94. Maybe that’s high, but it’s a far cry from 89-90.~~~

All I can say is, when I’ve seen it, I use the other pitchers in the same game as a compare. So, if the YES gun says that Hughes is throwing 89-91, and the same gun, in the same game, says that the Blue Jays AJ Burnett is throwing 96 (in the 7th inning) or that the Royals John Bale is throwing 90-91, then I have to accept the fact that Hughes is, indeed, throwing 89-91…or, then the gun is slow and Burnett is thowing 99 MPH late in a game, after a 100 or so pitches, and a nobody like John Bale is really throwing 93-94 MPH. Since I know there’s little chance that AJ is near triple-digits late in a game, and that Bale is throwing in the mid ‘90’s, I have to believe that the YES gun reading on Hughes is not far off when it shows 89-91 MPH for him. This make sense?