Joe Girardi provided the Yankee beat writers with three little nuggets of news about Yankee pitchers this morning. Mark Feinsand has the scoop:
Phil Hughes will be skipped one start in the Yankees rotation to limit his innings, Joe Girardi said before Wednesday’s series finale against Baltimore. Dustin Moseley will start Sunday in Texas, and Hughes will return to the rotation next Wednesday in Tampa.
Also, Girardi said Alfredo Aceves (back) will not return this season, and Damaso Marte (shoulder) will “probably not” be back in 2010.
The news on Hughes has been a long time coming. He has thrown more innings this season than ever before in his career, and the baseline high that the Yankees seem to be using comes from 2006. He has already thrown 50 or so more innings than he did in any of the previous three seasons. Whether due to a tired arm or something else, Phil’s stuff seems to have suffered over the last few weeks, with his fastball command lacking and his cutter having little bite. Giving him 10 days off to rest his arm is a prudent move, as the Yankees will need Phil to give their rotation some depth in the postseason. Interestingly enough, as @dturkenk noted on Twitter, this also prevents Texas from seeing any of the 3 starters they would likely face if the two clubs met in the ALDS, as Vazquez, Burnett, and Moseley are now lined up to pitch over the weekend.
As for the loss of Marte and Aceves for the season, the emergence of Boone Logan and the acquisition of Kerry Wood soften what might have seemed like a devastating blow in May or June. Even if both players were healthy, neither was likely to pass the key relievers currently on the roster in Joe Girardi’s pecking order in time for the postseason anyhow, and would have been relegated to “last man in the bullpen” status. As surprising as this is to say, their injuries turned out to be no big deal.
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One Response to Pitching Updates: Hughes, Marte, Aceves
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TIQ IQ
Even though it’s no longer a huge blow to the Yankees this year thanks to Kerry Wood I really hope to see Aceves back to 100% for next year, he is a great piece out of any pen and on top of that who really wants to see a baseball players career derailed in anyway, so here’s hoping to a full recovery and the abiltity to pitch at the same level he once did.