| Fastball | Curve | Change | Slider | |
| 1st | 11 (6) 92-93, 3"-4" | 1 (0) 75, 15" | 1 (0) 84, 6" | --- |
| 2nd | 19 (14) 92-93, 3" | 6 (2) 71-74, 16" | 1 (0) 81, 8" | 1 (1) 79, 10" |
| 3rd | 6 (5) 92-93, 3"-4" | 6 (3) 71-75, 15"-16" | --- | 1 (1) 80, 11" |
| 4th | 10 (6) 91-93, 3"-4" | 2 (2) 71-72, 16" | --- | 2 (1) 78, 9" 11" |
| 5th | 11 (6) 90-92, 3"-4" | 2 (1) 73, 15" 16" | --- | --- |
| 6th | 14 (10) 91-93, 3"-4" | 1 (0) 71, 16" | 1 (1) 79, 8" | 1 (1) 78, 11" |
Special notes: Generally, I've followed the Gameday pitch identification (which sports a freshly refined algorithm so that Gameday will only classify pitches as types the pitcher actually throws, so no more cutters for CMW [ps. I read that over at Hardball Times, but I can't find the article]). However, in the second inning Hughes threw a pitch at 79 mph with a 10" break. Gameday called it a curve, I'm guessing it was a misidentified slider. I saw a similar pitches in the 3rd, 4th, and 6th.
Interestingly, Gameday correctly identified a slider in the 4th.
Hughes only walked two but only struck out one, and he gave up nine hits. I have two theories rolling around in my head, either could be right or wrong and they are not mutually exclusive.
First, I'd say Hughes relied on the fastball too much. He threw fastballs for 71 of 97 pitches (73%). He only really flashed the change and slider; the slider is supposed to be a plus pitch for Hughes. What I didn't hear was which pitches he felt he had working- was this the pattern he planned to follow from the start, or was this improvised when he got to the pen and figured out he didn't have all his pitches working tonight? I won't pretend to be smart enough to guess.
Second, I think the long waits between innings hurt Phil. Cabrera threw 21 pitches to 6 batters in the top of the 5th, 30 pitches to 6 batters plus a coaching visit in the 6th. Staying sharp is something we see everyone struggle with, it's just one more aspect of the game that our 21 year old ace-in-training has to master.
I'm also encouraged because Hughes threw first pitch strikes to every batter until the 3rd batter in the 4th inning (technically, Brian Roberts hit the first pitch to start the game, but after that it was all 0-1). We definitely saw less nibbling out of the Franchise, and with his stuff, that's only going to lead to good things down the road.