Nightly Links: Nova, Robertson, Hughes

• The Yankees have now lost four straight games. It was a 6-1 loss motivated by Ivan Nova‘s shaky command, giving up 5 runs over 2.2 innings. David Phelps went 2.1 IP and went scoreless with 2 walks and a hit. The rest of the pitchers also struggled with baserunners, Cabral, Betances, and Burawa each allowing two men on within their single innings. Offensively, Colin Curtis scored the only run of the game with a homerun, and Ramiro Pena went 2 for 3 with a double. (Box Score)

• The biggest and worst news today was on David Robertson‘s ankle. The man who could successfully walk the tight-rope all last year, can’t walk down stairs, and suffered at least a mild sprain. Girardi said that further MRI tests gave the team a cause for concern, so we can hope that the injury will only sideline him for a few weeks.

• You’ve read all the optimistic Phil Hughes posts here at TYA over the last few days, and I have one on his need to breakout from Wallace Matthews. Indeed, this season will probably be the most important of his career.

• Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus has his top 20 prospects, ranking Manny Banuelos and Gary Sanchez five stars, Dellin Betances and Mason Williams four stars, and five more three stars. To read the whole article you need a subscription, but you should at least checkout his rankings.

• Over at Pinstripe Alley, Chris McKeown looked at the team’s age history, and wonders if the 2012 Yankees are still an old team.

• Yankee Fans Unite studied the initial two years for pitchers over the last few years, and the possibility of a sophomore slump for Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda.

• And today’s workouts.

Follow Me On Twitter