Kuzul

Here is one thing we can all agree on: CC Sabathia cannot pitch every day.

Thankfully for the New York Yankees, neither can Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers or Jared Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels. The burning question, however, is whether the other Yankees starters can measure up to the rotations they might face during the postseason.

The Yankees failed to acquire a starting pitcher at the trade deadline either because they felt the price  was too high or because the anticipated return of Andy Pettitte, the winningest pitcher in postseason history, will more than offset the Angels’ acquisition of Zack Greinke and the Texas Rangers‘ trade for Ryan Dempster.

Pettitte is the wild card in the Yankees’ postseason expectations. He and Sabathia are accustomed to big-game situations.

That cannot be said for the rest of the rotation. Hiroki Kuroda has been the most consistent starter after Sabathia, and Phil Hughes hit his stride in late June and has pitched well to improve his record to 11-8 and lower his ERA to 3.96. At one point this season, Hughes was allowing close to five runs a game.

At this point, Ivan Nova has pitched himself out of postseason plans and might even take a back seat to Freddy Garcia.

Nova’s record has always been misleading; he has been the beneficiary of good run support the past two seasons, but recently even the potent Yankee bats can’t keep up with the runs Nova allows. He is 10-6, but his ERA has climbed to 4.81.

If Pettitte returns, Nova and Garcia would be relegated to the bullpen for duty in long relief. Ideally, the Yankees would set up their rotation to go with Sabathia, Kuroda, Pettitte and Hughes.

The Angels are the only team that might have a stronger front line with Weaver, Greinke, Dan Haren and C.J. Wilson.

If Pettitte doesn’t return or isn’t 100 percent, well, the Yankees may have issues. Kuroda started three postseason games for the Los Angeles Dodgers and has a 2-1 record. The loss was to the Phillies in 2009, when Kuroda was roughed up for six runs in 1.1 innings.

He has done surprisingly well against American League teams after four years with the Dodgers in a pitcher’s park. Kuroda is 10-8 this season, but his ERA is an impressive 3.19.

Hughes has plenty of postseason experience, having been in 16 games. Given the Yankees’ indecision about whether Hughes should start or relieve, only three of those 16 games were starts. And he was 1-2, losing both to the Rangers in 2010.

Except for Greinke, the Yankees’ rotation wouldn’t have been upgraded with the addition of any pitcher who was traded, among them Dempster, Francisco Liriano, Paul Maholm and Joe Blanton.

Given that the Miami Marlins ultimately did not want to part with Josh Johnson, or were asking for the moon, or that Matt Garza of the Chicago Cubs was injured, the Yankees were better off holding on to any trade chips they do have.

For better or worse, it looks as if their playoff hopes hinge on the arms who are getting them there. And that may be enough to get back to the World Series.  

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2012 has been an up-and-down season for the New York Yankees thus far. Some players have been surprisingly hot, while some have been uncharacteristically cold. The team as a whole has gone on hot streaks and cold streaks as well, usually coinciding with the offense.

Players like Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher and Raul Ibanez have been red-hot to start the 2012 campaign, and are really the only reason that the Yankees have managed a 20-15 record at this point in the season.  

The heart of the order has stumbled out of the gate, as has the starting pitching staff as a whole, and when Mariano Rivera went down with a season-ending ACL injury, even the Yankees’ greatest strength, their lock-down bullpen, took a major hit.

However, as of late, things have begun to turn around for a handful of key Yankees figures. If these guys can keep moving in the right direction and pick it up, then things are about to heat up in the Bronx.

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When the season started, things weren’t looking good for Phil Hughes.

He had a 1-4 record with a 7.48 ERA,  and he was pitching himself out of the rotation with poor performance after poor performance.

David Phelps was attempting to pitch himself into the rotation and Andy Pettitte is returning to the Yankees on Sunday, so it seemed like only a matter of time before Hughes got demoted.

A little over a week ago, I wrote a story stating that Hughes was on the verge of losing his spot when Pettitte came back to the team.

Lately, it seems like Hughes may finally be turning everything around.

In his last two starts, Hughes not only has given the Yankees back-to-back wins, he’s given them back-to-back quality starts.

On May 6, Hughes overpowered the Kansas City Royals for 6.2 innings, six hits and seven strikeouts, which was his second win of the season.

And then on Saturday against the Seattle Mariners, Hughes went 7.2 innings, allowed one run on six hits, walked one and struck out four in a 6-2 Yankees win.

Hughes was able to drop his ERA again from 6.67 down to 5.50, dropping almost two full runs since the month of May started.

What’s good to see from Hughes is that not only is his velocity consistent, but his control has been a lot better.

When Hughes leaves his pitches over the plate with little-to-no movement, hitters can tee off on Hughes, which is why the 1-4 record started.

But if Hughes changes speeds, moves his location of his pitches and still uses power to get hitters out, Hughes will have success, which is why he’s won two starts in a row.

Hughes has always been a big part of the Yankees’ current and future plans of the rotation, and having him pitch well is something they need to have if they want to compete for a championship in October.

If Hughes struggles, it causes the Yankees to try and find alternate solutions, which isn’t something Yankees GM Brian Cashman wants to do, given the investment they have put into Hughes since they drafted him back in the 2004 MLB draft.

But when he does well, the Yankees tend to do well—like when Hughes became a temporary but dominant set-up man for Mariano Rivera in 2009, when the Yankees won the World Series or, in 2010, when Hughes won 18 games and was an American League All-Star.

The Yankees have gotten quality starts from CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda has pitched much better as of late, Ivan Nova is winning despite having a higher ERA and David Phelps is doing everything he can to keep a spot on the team—plus Pettitte’s returning from his extended spring training on Sunday.

If they can get Hughes pitching like this for the rest of 2012, that only increases the Yankees’ chances of having success in 2012.

Stay tuned, Yankees Universe.

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Phil Hughes recorded his second straight poor outing on Saturday against the Angels en route to a 7-1 loss.

It took Hughes 84 pitches to record just 10 outs, and he allowed six runs on eight hits and two walks. Two of the eight hits were home runs.

Rookie David Phelps—making his Yankee Stadium debut—came on in relief of the struggling Hughes.

Phelps was fantastic through 5.1 innings, allowing just one run on one hit and two walks. The one run was a home run by Vernon Wells. He also struck out four.

The home run by Wells was the first baserunner allowed in Phelps’s young career.

On the season, Phelps currently owns a 1.08 ERA over 8.1 innings. Opponents are currently hitting just .038 against him, and his WHIP currently sits at 0.36.

Hughes, on the other hand, has pitched just eight innings in two starts this season. Through those starts, Hughes owns a 9.00 ERA with a 2.13 WHIP and three home runs allowed.

Opponents are hitting a comfortable .351 against him, and his WHIP is an atrocious 2.13.

This comes after a fantastic spring by Hughes that earned him a spot in the rotation.

It may be early in the season, but the Yankees cannot afford more short outings by Hughes. They were lucky today that Phelps was able to give them length in relief, but he may not always be able to do so.

While help is on the way in the person of Andy Pettitte, the Yankees shouldn’t wait until the end of May to make a move.

An immediate fix is available, and he provided the Yankees with a longer outing than the starting pitcher in Saturday’s ballgame.

Phelps could provide the Yankees with several quality starts before Pettitte is ready, while Hughes can hurt the team much less in a long relief role.

Although Phelps is a rookie and it’s his first time in the majors, he has been a starter for 86 of his 87 minor league appearances.

In his four-year minor league career, Phelps owns a 38-15 record with a 2.61 ERA. He was also effective at limiting baserunners, as he put together a 1.184 WHIP.

The Yankees could easily swap Hughes for Phelps for at least a few starts to see how Phelps pitches. It would be a good move to see if Phelps is ready for a spot in the rotation for future seasons.

Honestly, he probably couldn’t pitch much worse than Hughes is right now.

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In two starts this season, Phil Hughes has yet to show the New York Yankees that he belongs in the team’s starting rotation and in turn, could be sent packing to the bullpen when Andy Pettitte returns.

Hughes pitched worse than he did in his first start against the Tampa Bay Rays when he went 4.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits while walking two and striking out five.

Against the Los Angeles Angels in his second start of 2012, Hughes went 3.1 innings and allowed six runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out six.

When Pettitte does make his inevitable return, it will be either Hughes or veteran Freddy Garcia that will get the boot since, at the moment, they are the Yanks’ two worst starters.

Hughes has the advantage over Garcia because of his age and upside, but if Garcia can prove that he can help New York win better than Hughes, the Yanks won’t hesitate to stick with the vet and move the young right-hander to the pen.

Garcia wasn’t that impressive in his first start, much like Hughes. However, if Garcia can come out in his second outing of 2012 and pitch well, he could instantly have a leg up in the battle to keep his job.

All Hughes had to do was be competitive and give the Bombers some quality starts. Even if his numbers weren’t necessarily better than Garcia’s, the Yanks would still stick with their former top-prospect for the reasons I mentioned above.

But so far this season, Hughes hasn’t looked competitive and is giving the Yankees all the reasons they need to justify sending him to the bullpen come May.

With a little over two weeks left until the Yankee legend returns to his rightful spot in the Bombers’ starting five, Hughes must do much better if he wants to prove he belongs in the Yanks’ rotation for the remainder of the season.

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HIROKI KURODA vs. ERVIN SANTANA compared to C.J. WILSON vs. PHIL HUGHES:

If you looked at Kuroda and Santana’s career stats vs. the active hitters prior to yesterday’s game, the Yankee win was already a lock.

Not taking anything away from Kuroda, but no one foreseen a less than an inning away from a complete game performance considering his last and only two both took place in 2008.

Kuroda also did have some success and experience against Angels Albert Pujols back when he was a Dodger, and that is advantage that the other Yankee starters don’t have.

As for Santana, the majority of the Yankees bats have always whacked the heck out of him except for Swisher, he came into the game with a career .182 average against him. Swisher came into yesterday with a hot and confident bat, which proved lethal.

Still, as a whole the Yankees had hit almost .300 against Santana making the matchup in favor of the Yankees from the get-go; pending that Kuroda as back to his old self.

Looking at this afternoons game, it is just not as cut and dry.

WILSON vs. HUGHES:

Looking at today’s matchup it is not as clear-cut because Phil Hughes’ stats read like a script to Jekyll and Hyde. He went from 2010 All-Star to being almost ineffective last season and now I think he is somewhere in the middle.

And that makes it easy to pick C.J. Wilson as the clear winner, but in baseball it is the unknowns that make it so fun.

Analyzing Hughes is tough; he did show up in shape this spring, and pitched well in camp, but that has yet to carry over.

Hughes didn’t look sharp at all in his first regular season start down in Tampa. He was pulled after throwing 99 pitches in four and two-thirds innings; he allowed two walks, two runs and one homer, while striking out five.

That is why I think the outcome of this game depends heavily on Hughes performance and how he handles Pujols.

As of today, the only thing that Hughes and Pujols share is a love affair with the fastball; Hughes throws it about 62 percent of the time and Pujols hits it all the time.

This could be a potentially big problem for Hughes unless he throws his with a lot of confidence.

He needs to keep his fastball on the outside upper corner, his change-up high, and stop worrying about what the radar gun reads, if he wants to get a hitter like Pujols to swing and miss. Hughes has to mix it up more than normal, as I believe that if he throws his breaking ball more he has a good chance.

Pujols has yet to hit a homer this season, but it will happen and Hughes doesn’t want to be his target practice.

Bottom line is that if Hughes doesn’t throw like it is 2010, the Yankees could be in for a long afternoon.

As for Wilson, he has clocked 164 at-bats with the active Yankees roster, holding them to a .226 batting average. He has given up homers to Jeter and Ibanez in the past but his biggest threat is Robinson Cano, who in 23 career at-bats vs. Wilson he is hitting close to .400.

It will be interesting to see how A-Rod’s hot bat will do against a pitcher who has never given up a homer to him, and has held him to a .111 average.

On the road Wilson posted a 2.25 ERA last season, which was the best in the AL. This might be Wilson’s first season with the Halos, but he got plenty of big game experience against the Yankees in the Bronx when he was with the Rangers.

Wilson got the Halos first win of 2012, as he threw seven innings of one run, three hit ball against the Twins.

Advantage: Wilson unless Hughes dazzles. 

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A week into March, spring training is well under way. Many veteran players lament having to go through the grind, but for others, this time of year provides hope in many forms.  

Be it a career revival after a down season, a former standout looking to bounce back from a key injury or an unproven player fighting for a roster spot or starting position, spring training provides plenty of reasons for baseball fans to start paying attention early. 

Most teams have at least a handful of players who fall into one or more of the aforementioned categories, leading to some intriguing position battles as we work toward opening day. Here I’ll break down eight of the most interesting competitions heading into the 2012 MLB season.

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The Yankees were no match for the newly-extended Andrew McCutchen and the Pirates today in Bradenton. To celebrate his new six-year contract with Pittsburgh, McCutchen killed the Yankees for two hits and two RBI.

CC Sabathia was given the ball to start the game—his first live game action this spring. He pitched pretty well in two innings of work, allowing three hits and a run while recording one strikeout.

When asked about how he felt, Sabathia responded, “I’ve still got work to do, but my arm feels good and my body feels good.”

He threw 35 pitches over the course of two innings.

Phil Hughes saw his first action of the spring as well, throwing 1 1/3 innings. He allowed two runs (one earned), allowing four hits and striking out one.

Although he was slated to go the full two innings, some tough spots prevented Hughes from going any further in the contest.

After having problems with velocity last season, Hughes was consistently clocked at 93 MPH on the radar gun, a very good sign for the Yankees.

Prospect Brett Marshall came on in relief of Hughes and turned in the only scoreless outing of the day for Yankees pitchers. In 1 2/3 innings, Marshall issued one free pass and struck out one.

Graham Stoneburner and Chase Whitley pitched the final three frames of the contest. Combined, they allowed nine hits, four runs and struck out two.

Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira all made the trip to Bradenton for the game, going a combined 3-for-10 with an RBI (Cano). 

Second baseman David Adams provided the team with two RBI in his 1-for-2 effort, while Francisco Cervelli added an RBI of his own on his 26th birthday.

Melky Mesa, Ramiro Pena, Chris Dickerson and Justin Maxwell all recorded hits of their own.

Prospect Zoilo Almonte, after going 4-for-4 in the previous three spring games against the Phillies, made an out in his only at-bat after pinch running for Teixeira.

The Yankees are now on their first losing streak of the season, but they should be happy with what they saw today from Phil Hughes.

Hughes put it best today, saying that it would be a “dogfight” for the fifth starter’s job, and he did plenty to impress the club with his outing. Topping at 93 MPH for nearly any pitcher is impressive in the first start of Spring Training, but it is especially noteworthy when that pitcher is Hughes—who battled dead arm for most of last season.

It will be an interesting battle all spring for the job, but it’ll be hard to deny Hughes if his velocity keeps increasing.

The Yankees play again on Wednesday against the Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

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In his first outing this Spring, Phil Hughes looked closer to his 2010 form. After dropping some weight, Hughes was hitting 92-93 on the gun, according to scouts. 

Now these numbers aren’t staggering, but for someone who was having trouble breaking 90 last year, this is a great sign. 

We already know Hughes has great off-speed stuff, so if he can mix in his fastball around 93, he’ll be anchoring the rotation and helping the Yankees to another division title and No. 28. 

Now I know it’s only one start, but in his case, this is a big step forward. After being an All-Star in 2010, Hughes had a terrible 2011, and his future was often in doubt. He isn’t out of the dark yet, but he can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

It seems that Hughes has shown up to camp in great shape, and hopefully things stay that way. Girardi says that Hughes is still competing for a spot in the rotation, so he will likely continue to improve and impress. 

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It might not be obvious now, but Phil Hughes will be one of the most watched and vital pieces to the New York Yankees’ success in 2012.

Hughes, in my opinion, will be the third starter barring a surprise (or not so surprising) lapse before the season starts. Success in that slot of the rotation will be important in giving the Bombers stability in their starting five.

We basically have a good idea what you’re going to get from CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova, but beyond that, there is no certainty. Even Nova, with only one full year of experience, isn’t exactly a given. A.J. Burnett will be a toss-up, while Freddy Garcia might have a tough time duplicating 2011.

That makes Hughes’ role monumentally more important. He could be the wild card. If you factor in health, it’s easy to make the case he’s just as big a question mark as the rest of New York’s rotation.

In his own right, Hughes needs to get it done this season. It could be one of Hughes’ last in pinstripes and if he ever wants to come close to reaching the initial expectations with the organization, he needs to do it this season.

Not a glimpse, or a good first half, but a solid season that gives the Yankees a stable 1-2-3 in their rotation. If Hughes can be that pitcher, it would take a ton of pressure off Ivan Nova, A.J. Burnett and Freddy Garcia.

It’s funny how Hughes once had the expectations of being an ace pitcher in the MLB and now, if he becomes a consistent third starter, it might actually be considered a success. Of course his performance in the postseason will have much of the say over that, but it comes with the territory.

The Yankees have their diamond in the rough this season, much like they had in Bartolo Colon in 2011. And normally, the Yanks find one of these guys off the scrap heap in free-agency that unexpectedly helps them along during the season en route to the playoffs.

Maybe what we don’t know is that the guy off the scrap heap is already on the team. And has been for what seems like forever.

I can’t imagine much of a chance left for the career of Phil Hughes as a Yankee if he doesn’t answer the call this season. He might have another year of arbitration, but he will be an inexpensive piece capable of being moved to the bullpen the following season.

At some point the Bombers will be making changes to this rotation, whether by trade, free-agency or young talent coming up through the system. If Hughes still can’t cut it, the Yanks won’t hesitate to replace him with whomever they bring in.

For Phil Hughes, the time is now and this is the biggest season of his career. For his sake, and the Yankees’, he better not blow it.

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