Phil Hughes

by andyroth on Apr 3, 2008 11:57 PM EDT

B+ tonight. Very good curveball and good placement of the fastball. Velocity was all right but not exceptional. Not a knock on Hughes but McGowan at this point has better stuff but is five years older. I'll be interested to see how the staff pitches as they face better lineups. Tampa Bay is an upgrade over Toronto but then they face the Royals. Let's see what Kennedy has to offer tomorrow.

Don't faint because I wrote something very positive.

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Well said.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Apr 4, 2008 2:02 AM EDT reply actions

Now, was that so hard?

Given the temperature, I'd be more interested in how Hughes (and everyone else) commanded the strike zone. I was out coaching last night and only caught Hughes's last inning of work. I was impressed.

The inning I saw he mixed his pitches effectively, found himself in good counts and kept the Jays off balance with a tight curve and what looked like a few changes.

Roth, don't worry about his velocity. With good command of his off speed stuff, if he even spots a 95 mph fastballgetting and puts it in the mind of the hitters, he's going to be very successful most nights.

Velocity is important, and as he strengthens his arm and the temps go up, so to will velocity.

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Apr 4, 2008 9:45 AM EDT reply actions