river ave blues put forth by Joe. What Joe suggests is that Hughes make his next start against Seattle to see what he can do against a weak hitting club. Then after that we come to a period where he could be skipped a few times if we need to give him a break to work on things in bullpen sessions.

The reason I like this approach is we also have IPK to worry about. We will find out in a couple days if his struggles are going to continue or if he is ready to turn a corner. But I don’t think we can afford to call up two AAA pitchers at once to be in the rotation. So if IPK is going to struggle I want to have the option of sending him down. Cause if anyone needs time to develop in the minors he does. His rise to the to pof the organization was totally unexpected, so it wouldn’t be too suprising to find out he really does need some time in the minors.

But I think something has to be done. Hughes needs more than two pitches. When he struggled two starts ago he threw almost all fastballs. Yesterday he threw like a quarter of his pitches as curves and the rest fastballs. Working with a new catcher everyday can’t help, but he has to show hitters all four of his pitches. I know they made him can his slider for most of the time that he was in the minors so he could work on his curve, but that was supposed to be his best pitch. He has to get back to that.

and the last line was so cheesy, but I think that someone has to do something about Phil. I think that Girardi did not help him with the lineup last night but Phil seems to be “lost” as Sherman points out. And Phil admits he’s struggling.

I do hate the “We wouldn’t give him up for Johan” argument. It was NOT just Phil, it was Phil plus Melky plus someone else and they STILL weren’t satisfied. It was as much about what MORE the Twinkies wanted (that the Mets, incredibly, did NOT have to give up) than about we wanted to keep Phil. I still think the Yankee no-trade was the right call and I think the Johan shadow is a bs argument.

I not only think Phil Hughes can be fixed but will be fixed so long as his mental state doesn’t take him down. He didn’t play college ball and maybe he needs a few more AAA starts before coming up.

After listening to Michael Kay, Flaherty and Leiter debate whether or not Hughes should be demoted, I reminded them that he’s just 21 years old, and everyone needs to take a deep breathe. Yes, he looked lost last night. Yes, his eyes had that “hold me” glow to them. But should he be sent down? No.

Phil has nothing to prove in the minors, and any tweaking of mechanics should be done under the watchful eye of Dave Eiland, his minor league guru. Sending him down will accomplish nothing as far as I’m concerned.

Take a look at these pitchers when they were 21-22:

-Greg Maddux was 6-14 with a 5.61 era
-Tom Glavine was 7-17 with a 4.56 era at 22
-John Smoltz was 2-7 with a 5.48 era
and Fausto Carmona was 1-10 with a 5.42 (his stats were skewed due to relief appearances).

We need to all take a collective breath and realize that he’s just 21. He will get better. He will figure it out-if we all just relax and maybe try to turn the pressure down just alittle. I mean did we really need to boo him off the mound? Do we really need to dissect every pitch, every move? I would suggest not-especially after looking at the early careers of Smoltz, Glavine, and Maddux.

On an unrelated side note, and not to blow my horn, but one of my AAU pitchers from years ago Clay Rapada pitched a strong inning for the Tigers last night!

the powers that be pulled the plug on ARoth. He would have been brutal this morning.

I’d give Phil one more start to show even a hint of progress, and if he doesn’t I’d go to Rasner.

People keep mentioning Glavine, Smoltz and Maddux (76-85) at Phil’s age, but that team was horrible and they played in a city where no one gives a shit.

This is still a win now team at the end of the day, and the growing pains need to stop asap.

That Phil only threw 5 AAA games. Maybe he should go down for a while. I’m a little on the fence about it but whatever will fix him, I’m for it. I’m not sure he knows how to deal with failure and there is no bigger failure than being boo’d off the mound in the Bronx. That’s enough to crush a kid. I hope it makes him stronger.