Hughes rebounds, dominates Syracuse

by anaconda on Apr 19, 2007 5:23 AM EDT in News Comment 18 comments

Phil Hughes bounced back from a shaky outing and tossed six dominating innings as visiting Scranton/Wilkes-Barre blanked Syracuse, 4-0, on Wednesday.

Hughes (2-1) surrendered two hits and struck out 10 without a walk after yielding five runs in five innings against Richmond on April 12.

Needing a starter Tuesday to fill in for injured pitchers Carl Pavano and Mike Mussina, the Yankees bypassed Hughes -- their consensus No. 1 pitching prospect -- and awarded the spot start to fellow rookie Chase Wright.

If Hughes was disappointed by the decision, he didn't show it as he didn't allow a baserunner to get in scoring position and retired 15 batters in a row before Russ Adams' sixth-inning single. It was the first time Hughes had fanned 10 batters since a June 23 game against Connecticut.

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I was very happy with

my decision to go see him pitch. I got to sit just slightly to the left of home plate in the 4th row so I got a great look at his pitches and his movement.

I think I am going to return this evening and see Tyler Clippard pitch as well.

By the way... you can see a bunch of posters and t shirts with handle bar moustaches at the syracuse stadium... why you ask?

You can be one of Sal's Pal's kids!!! Of Fasano how the mighty (hah) have fallen

Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and f*** the prom queen.

by Edwantsacracker on Apr 19, 2007 8:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Why didn't we bring him back?

He's better than Nieves.

River Ave. Blues
Yanks and prospects

by PinstripePowerhouse on Apr 19, 2007 8:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not sure about that.

Fasano was a pretty bad hitter. Will might not be better, but he can't be worse. I know we already talked about this, but I though they should have made a bigger effort for Hall or Redmond.

Great Success!

by ReLaunch on Apr 19, 2007 9:06 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Backup catcher

Why so much effort and energy wasted worrying about the backup catcher? Whoever it is plays once a week, and Posada comes in if the Yankees are losing anyway. If Jorge gets hurt, Cashman will go out and find somebody else, anyway. Worrying about this is really a waste of time.

by ETVal on Apr 19, 2007 11:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not really

You can count on one hand how many teams in MLB have a good backup catcher.

by anaconda on Apr 19, 2007 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't need good

just need "not fucking atrocious." With our payroll capacities, this shouldn't be too hard. This winter, Cashman went for Zaun. That was a good thought, but when it fell through, he basically said "oh well, fuck it."

Fear the Evil Empire

by pfistyunc on Apr 19, 2007 12:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I would take Posada

over varitek anyday, but remember how much trouble they got into when Varitek went down for part of the season. I agree backup catching should be a priority

Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and f*** the prom queen.

by Edwantsacracker on Apr 19, 2007 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Backup catcher isn't a priority

for any team because most backup catchers only play one game per week.

As I stated earlier, there are only a handful of teams in both leagues that have good backup catchers if the starter sustains an injury.

Most backup catchers are simply players who can call a decent game and play good defense.

Few of them could hit .300 if they were allowed to use aluminum bats.

by anaconda on Apr 19, 2007 3:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Although Posada

is not the best player on the Yanks, he would be the biggest loss if he got injured. I agree with what Pfisty said. Yanks don't need a good player, just not these awful players they have been putting out there.

Great Success!

by ReLaunch on Apr 19, 2007 6:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't disagree with that

but it's a lot easier said than done because there are only a handful of decent catchers in the league that isn't already starting.

Their best shot to fill that role was a year or two ago when Benji Molina could have been picked up for almost nothing and sat by the phone for months during the off-season waiting for a team to call him.

And secondly, there are no young options in the Yanks' farm system, so they can't groom what they don't have.

We didn't realize it back then, but Girardi and Posada provided this team a luxury that no other team possessed when they had two capable catchers on the roster and had the means to groom the youngster.

I would think every team in MLB is looking for a young catcher right now (perhaps except for the Twins) because it's the hardest commodity in MLB to find.

by anaconda on Apr 19, 2007 7:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

ATL and CLE

are probably pretty happy with their backstops too.

Fear the Evil Empire

by pfistyunc on Apr 20, 2007 7:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Probably true

but it wouldn't shock me at all to see Victor Martinez converted to 1B or DH within the next few years because he's not a great defensive catcher and he seems to be a little injury prone for such a young player.

Since Hafner is permanently cemented into that DH role for now, Martinez probably won't be a DH with CLE unless either he or Hafner leave town over the next 5 years.

by anaconda on Apr 20, 2007 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Okay, who would Cashman

go out and get then if Posada was injured?

Great Success!

by ReLaunch on Apr 19, 2007 6:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really think

we should have gone out and tried to get J. Bard from SD last year while they still had Piazza. I've always loved his swing. Thoughts?

Back, to the wall, ssseeeya! And a home run for... ... ... ... ... Bubba Crosby!

by atthehive on Apr 19, 2007 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, he is

good. My issue is that how come the Yanks cannot put more emphasis on this position in the minors. Regardless of how Posada does this year, catchers at this age usually have a sudden drop in production.

Great Success!

by ReLaunch on Apr 19, 2007 7:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Emphasis added

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Francisco%2520Cervelli&pos=C&sid=m ilb&t=p_pbp&pid=465041

River Ave. Blues
Yanks and prospects

by PinstripePowerhouse on Apr 20, 2007 1:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really haven't heard

anything about him. What do you know? Projections, etc?

Great Success!

by ReLaunch on Apr 20, 2007 7:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not a whole ton

Mike (from River Ave) and I talk about him all the time. A lot is going to depend on how he progresses this year. If he continues to hit, who knows. He could end up being our backup next year. That's best case scenario, though.

The Yanks have put some emphasis on catchers (I hate bringing up his name, but Jon Poterson was a big time prospect when the Yanks took him in the supplemental 3rd round in 2004 (he completely busted, while Huston Street remained on the board).

Such is baseball, though.

River Ave. Blues
Yanks and prospects

by PinstripePowerhouse on Apr 20, 2007 8:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs