Last night, Phil Hughes had another fantastic game. He tossed seven innings while giving up just one hit and one run, walking only one, and striking out seven. He also did something that I’ll be happy with.
My last article about Phil touched on his lack of non-fastballs and my frustration with that. Coming into last night, Phil’s non-FB% was at 14.24%. Last night, Hughes only threw two changeups, but he did drop 17 curveballs on the Orioles so his non-FB% was up to 18.81% and it definitely paid off.
Still, though, Hughes has a long way to go. I think we’d all like to see him break out that changeup a bit more so he can truly complete his arsenal. I will say, though, that his curveball last night was good and he did a good job of locating it. As you can see below, he did a great job of keeping it low in the zone:
Also worth noting is the relatively good location of his cutter. It was away to righties and in to lefties, just like you want it.
No matter what pitches he’s thrown, Hughes has gotten results this season and he’s already exceeded expectations. I’m excited to see him grow from here. It seems that the last hurdle for Hughes is to even more successfully mix his pitches and become a truly complete pitcher.
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2 Responses to Hughes Mixed Well Last Night
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TIQ IQ
Baltimore is a terrible team.Hughes still needs the “out” pitch with 2 strikes and men on base.Will it be the Cutter? Fastball isn’t overpowering enough and the can guess on the curve.To be great you neeed the “out” pitch.
His fastball isn’t overpowering enough? He’s been overpowering with it all year. I’d like to see him mix his pitcher more, but his fastball has been amazing.