Watching the game last night, I was quite upset when I saw Brian Bruney enter the game in the 8th inning. While I like Bruney and believe that he can be the 8th inning guy (if you feel the need to have such defined roles), the obvious call was to leave Phil Hughes in the game. Hughes had breezed through the 7th inning on 9 pitches, and Joe Girardi had said previously that Hughes was to be used without any restraints. As Joe said (courtesy of Pete Abe
):
“He is a full-fledged reliever now. I won’t hesitate to bring him in in any situation at this point,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We still consider him a starter, but right now he’s filling a void for us…….I’m not hesitant to do that with him. I think he’s very capable of being a two-inning reliever, a three-inning reliever for us,” the manager said. “I won’t do that necessarily to build up his innings, I’ll do it because I believe he can do it and do it well.”
If Joe really means this, last night seemed to be a perfect time to have Phil pitch two innings. However, with the bottom of the order coming up for Seattle, I could understand trying to get Bruney going against softer opposition, so the move was not indefensible. The real issue to address here is what the future holds for Hughes:
“I can’t look Mariano Rivera in the face and say, ‘I’ve weakened your bullpen for the future.’ It’s a balancing act and it’s a tough one,” Cashman said. “It’s hard. The short-term goal is you have to win as many games as you can to get into the postseason. If you do that, the next goal comes in line. In Phil’s case, that’s to get some innings. There’s a collision there you have to deal with.”
It seems pretty clear from this quote that Hughes is going to stay in the majors for the rest of the season unless he falters out of the bullpen. The Yankees are going to do what is best for the 2009 team, and then stick Phil in the rotation to get 180 innings next season. While I have no problem with that, I think it is imperative that they use Phil properly in the majors. If they are going to delay his development, they need to maximize his value at the big league level. As Steve Lombardi states:
This all said, I think it’s time for the Yankees to start using Phil Hughes exactly how Mariano Rivera was used in 1996. Have Hughes set up for the closer. Make the 8th inning his inning. In fact, just like Rivera was used in ‘96, have Hughes pitch the 7th and 8th innings of games, where needed, to get to your closer.
I totally agree. Hughes needs to be the late inning relief ace, brought in during tough spots and left in for up to two innings. Furthermore, the Yankees need to be clear with Phil about his future. Otherwise, we may start hearing quotes like this:
“I feel like I have more control, my stuff plays up a little bit,” Hughes said. “It feels like a good fit for me. Who’s to say what the future will be? Maybe this is what I do for the rest of my career.”
You are a starter, Phil. Don’t be getting any wise ideas.
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13 Responses to The Phil Hughes Situation
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TIQ IQ
That last quote is terrible! But, the Yankees know what they have with Hughes and it’s good for him to work on getting ML hitters out and figuring that out via the bullpen could definitely work to his advantage for future seasons. I think he’ll be alright next year as long as the team gets him 100 innings this year.
Yeah, the thirty inning rule applies to your previous high, so Hughes can target 180 again next season. It was doubtful that he would exceed the number in the rotation next year anyhow.
You are exactly right. I have no idea why you would take any reliever out after a 9 pitch inning.
The thing that everyone, including Girardi seems to be forgetting is that Bruney has never really proven himself over a full season to be “the guy” in the 8th inning anyway. Prior to his “breakout” last season, I think most of you will recall that his 2007 full season performance with the Yankees was Veras’esque. His control was terrible, walking 37 in 50 innings and posting a 4.68 era. Don’t forget, the Diamondbacks released this guy at 23 years old when he could throw 95/96 mph. So, in 2008 he wows us with a great performance, but gets hurt halfway into the season. The truth is, we don’t really know what he is capable of at this point, so I firmly believe it is way too early to annoint him as the 8th inning guy anyway. As far as I’m concerned, he hasn’t proven anything anyway. I hope he has overcome his control problems and can harness his great arm, but I hoped the same for Jose Veras too and look what happened to him.
I totally agree, Dan. I don’t think Brian Cashman believes in Bruney all that much either, especially since he’s burning the phone lines looking for another late-inning reliever.
Where do you get that from? All of those reports are old, and likely have more to do with the other guys failing. With the pen more settled, I think Cashman has no urgency on that front. Regarding Bruney, his first 10 innings this year were as good, or better, than Hughes has looked., and he was very good last year when healthy. The guy has an ERA of 3.00 as a Yankee, and I think they need to see if this is just a bit of rust.
I think most of the reports are fairly up-to-date and it’s pretty well documented that the Yankees are looking at other bullpen options. Also, if a starter goes down and Phil Hughes is removed from the bullpen and placed into the rotation, that would actually hurt the bullpen depth.
Honestly, I have not seen anything like that in a while. Have any links? The most I have seen is stuff that said they were itnerested in Street a few weeks ago, but that it is less pressing now.
Moshe you still love Girardi as a manager? When he is fired and I believe he will be but don’t know when I hope Dave Miley gets a shot.
All managers make mistakes. I can count on one hand the number of times I have been totally dumbfounded by a move from Girardi. Even last night, I hated that move, but tell me, how many managers would have gone about it differently?
Moshe I just don’t see Girardi lasting a long time as a manager for the Yankees. He seems two faced and openly lies about his decisions all the time. To me his nasally chuckle comes across as phony.
Openly lies? Really? I’m pretty sure that you just do not like him.
Taking him out ofter 9 pitches was a Joe Torre kind of move. There was simply no reason for it.
What’s even more Torre-esque was him doing it only a few days after saying he was a 2-3 inning RP.
I agree with Dan about Bully Bruney being the default 8th inning guy. As with Veras, he’s had some short stretches of success, but nothing sustained. A lot of pretty ordinary RPs have similar stretches.
He should have to earn the 8th inning role just like everyone else.