Just as it did with Joba Chamberlain last season, the rumblings about Phil Hughes succeeding Mariano Rivera as closer are starting to get louder:
I’ve already gone on record saying that I believe Phil Hughes should be the Yankees’ next closer. What I saw tonight did nothing but confirm that belief.
Hughes picked up his first big-league save with a pair of scoreless innings, looking as dominant as he has for the past six weeks since he moved to the bullpen. The 23-year-old now has a 22-inning scoreless streak, the longest by a Yankees reliever since Mariano Rivera went 23 straight in 2005.
But it wasn’t what Hughes did on the mound that reaffirmed my belief that his future should be as Rivera’s successor. It was his comments after the game that made me positive that this is the perfect guy to fill what will certainly be the biggest empty shoes in baseball history.
You think being the guy to follow Joe Torre was difficult? Torre has never been called the greatest manager of all-time. It’s hard to find anyone that doesn’t call Rivera the greatest closer ever.
Asked if it felt different to get the final three outs – something virtually every pitcher that has ever closed a game for the first time has said – Hughes said it was “no different” than the other innings he’s pitched.
“Just one more inning than I’ve been used to,” Hughes said. “I had a little cushion to work with, which was nice. I was just thinking about the next pitch and trying to execute it. It didn’t really sink in until Robbie threw me the ball.”
The argument against Hughes remaining in the bullpen is not quite as strong as the one made in favor of moving Joba back to the rotation. Unlike Joba, Hughes has a slightly more limited repertoire, and has had a similar issue in terms of staying healthy. However, these concerns are not strong enough to justify keeping Hughes in the pen. He needs to be given every chance to grab a rotation spot next season, as it is the best way to maximize his value. Should he fail in the rotation, he can always be moved to the bullpen later.
What do you think about Hughes and his future?
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14 Responses to Hughes As The Heir To Mariano?
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Since I firmly believe Mo is coming back for 2011 this question does not need to be answered for a while. I think Jeter, Mo and Posada are all going to retire after 2011 together. If Hughes fails as a starter over the next 2 years then sure put him in the pen but I think by then he will have locked up a rotation spot.
Agreed. Hughes is 2.5 years younger than Mo was in 1995, it is too early to label him a failed starter. By the time Mo retires, it won’t be too early for that label anymore if Phil is still struggling in the rotation
I don’t think they listed Mo as a “failed” starter, in fact he wanted to return to the rotation and give it another shot but it was needed for him to be in the pen just like Hughes is needed now.
Closing games takes confidence. I haven’t seen Phil this confident since he was tossing a no-hitter in Texas his rookie year. I think it would be a big mistake to let him fail as a starter for the next two years and then stick him in the pen. It’s tough to trust yourself to throw a fastball past someone in the 9th inning when the last time you did it was two years ago. And besides, this is a mute point anyway. Phil is needed in the pen until Bruney figures things out, Mo ages like Benjamin Button, or the yanks make a move for Soria. And if he is a starter, we’ll know by June 2010. If it takes until 2011, he won’t be in pinstripes still.
You don’t move top 5 prospects to the bullpen unless they absolutely cannot start. And Hughes has simply not been given enough of an opportunity to prove himself. This stint in the bullpen should show Yankees fans one thing – it’s very, very easy to find a good back-end bullpen guy compared to finding a top of the rotation guy. And that’s exactly why it would be stupid to put him in the bullpen full time.
All I am saying about this is Hughes is going to be an average starter based on stuff in comparison to Joba. So far Joba has proven at time he can run it up at 97 while starting and going deep into a game, Hughes on the other hand has never and could never pitch over 89-92 in a starting role. With his increase in velocity in the pen he has also picked up much needed movement on his fastball that wasn’t there before and because of that his curve is 10 times a deadly. Based on pure stuff alone Hughes is better in the pen.
Hughes was actually pitching around 94 (according to YES) in his last two starts before going to the pen out of necessity. I have seen more in Hughes as a starter than Joba personally, but really they both should be kept in the rotation. Of coarse Huges and Joba look better in the pen. It’s because the pen is less demanding. You can go max effort. If you put AJ Burnett in the pen he’d be clocking over 100 and his curveball would look even better. Does that mean he should be in the pen?? Of coarse not, because Starters are more valuable than closers. As Yankee fans we overestimate the importance of closers simply because we’ve had the best one in history. Love Mo to death, favorite Yankee ever, but Hughes to pen is a ridiculous notion. Let him build on his confidence and take it with him to the more important starting role
YES gun is always wrong and I have never seen Hughes kick up much over 92 and he usually sits around 89-91 with no movement at all, that is one reasons he added the cutter so that hitters couldn’t key on his fastball. The comparison of AJ Burnett to the pen holds no water when talking about Hughes because Hughes is not a power pitcher in the way AJ or Joba are they both have fastballs that can stand up in the starting role I don’t think Hughes does. How can you say you see more in Hughes? Because he has been starting longer and spent more time in the minors and working on his pitching than Joba it makes him look worse that Joba out succeeded him in the rotation, Joba has a 3 ERA Hughes is up in the 5s at all time. He has excelled in the pen and struggled mightly for years in ways Joba hasn’t in the rotation.
This is factually inaccurate, though. Hughes threw a 94 MPH fastball in the minors, and has a plus curveball. He has always had plus control, too, thanks to a ridiculously consistent release point (one of the most consistent in the game).
This is just not true. He was sitting at 93 in his last couple of starts. This includes the gun that I saw on the Orioles station in that start. And if you believe the YES gun as a reliever, why don’t you believe what it showed as a starter.
Why does everyone love Hughes? Is it because he has been in the organization forever and struggled so long that people are attached to him? Because the love for Joba is not the same as it is for Hughes, people either want Joba in the pen or traded and no one wants Hughes in the pen because he is the next “Ace” of the staff. When Joba struggles he throws 89-93 and people complain when Hughes is on track as a starter he is 89-92 and is awesome, why? The difference in Hughes and Joba to me is that Joba has proved (Today and in many starts in the past) he can throw 96 as a starter and that he can dominate a line up when he is right and Hughes is throwing a lot lower and is not dominate when he starts, he can be every good at times but not dominate. Joba has the kind of stuff to dominate line ups, Hughes has the type of stuff that he can get through line ups so if you are making either one of them a replacement for Mo it has to be Hughes, if you want to start them both go ahead but if one is a candidate for full time closer it’s Hughes because he does have dominate stuff in the bull pen, if he threw in the rotation as he did in the pen he would be dominate. However because he doesn’t I don’t see Hughes being anything more than a good number 3 or real good 4.
If you’re going to talk about how fast he throws I wouldn’t start off with the premise that the YES gun is always wrong… since that’s the gun you’re using for you’re entire argument. Hughes is not yet an ace but he’s 22, was definitely throwing harder before he got hurt, and and right before going to the pen. I think he was once heralded so highly because of what we’re seeing out of him right now. I think he deserves another shot in the rotation is all I’m saying. He’s got the stuff to do it, in fact it’s Joba who had been sitting around 88-91 all season. He too just started throwing harder, like Hughes was before being moved to the pen.
I’m too young to remember, so, does anyone know how exactly Mariano Rivera came about to be a reliever? I know he was a starter originally, but not that great, and ended up setting up for Wetteland before being a closer.
But how did the team decide to keep him there?
When he came up, it was as a starter. He was very good (doment) for about 3/4 innings (max) then his pitches started to drift (not good) and slow down. He was at around 5.00+/- era., and a bit light in the ass to have the endurance needed to be a starter (1994 or 95). Someone (Showalter?)came up with the idea of using him as the set-up man and history was made.
A little simple and short but, that’s about how it went…give or take a few lies, here and there.