This evening, I was in attendance at MCU ballpark in Coney Island with fellow TYA writer MJR (lots of acronyms there, huh?) to watch Phil Hughes make his first rehab start facing the Cyclones. It’s a minor league ballpark, so when you look at the scoreboard they don’t have pitch counts, velocity readings, or any of the things hard core fans will be looking for. Frankly, the proprietors seem more interested in having their barely legal, C-cup minimum cheerleaders dance out of sync and throw towels to the crowd than they do catering to the hard core baseball fan. But hey it’s Rookie ball, what do you expect. Not that I’m complaining. If I can’t get my Pitch FX data, I’ll gladly settle for lots and lots of boobs.
On to Phil. He started off slowly, as if he was trying to get a feel for the mound and strike zone or shaking off some rust. But overall, just not looking as aggressive as he usually does. He gave up a quick single to the first batter he faced (Daniel Muno) that found a hole between the SS and 3B. The next batter (Ismael Tijerina) laced a line drive single to Right, advancing Muno to 3B. Phil struck out the next batter swinging, and the following batter took a called strike 3. Then he walked Luke Stewart to load the bases. The final batter of the inning was Juan Torres, who Phil struck out swinging. He was on a pitch count of 60-65 pitches, and he used up 25 of them in the first inning. Looked like it was going to be a short outing for Phil where he just got his work in and we all start making excuses for him.
But after the rocky first inning, he really settled in and started looking like the Mr Hughes Yankee fans know and love. He blew hitter after hitter away, making many look foolish and wasting few pitches in the process. He threw just 8 pitches each in the 2nd and 3rd innings, then struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced in a quick 4th inning. He was rolling, dominating, and you could see it in his body language out on the mound. But then in the 5th, Phil seemed to lose it. The first batter hit a long fly ball to RF, which was caught by outfielder Ben Gamel. The next batter launched a blast over the CF fence, that by my and MJRs estimation went at least 385 feet. So it was a legit HR, even for a minor league ballpark. The manager quickly came out of the dugout, he and Phil had a quick laugh about something and then he took the ball. Phil’s night was over.
Overall, he threw 4 1/3 innings and gave up just one run on the last pitch he threw. He threw 61 pitches, 41 for strikes, and after the rough start looked exactly as you would expect him to facing Rookie ball batters. Now I know what you’re all waiting for, his velocity readings. Bryan Hoch reported that he was sitting 92-93 with the fastball, topping out at 95. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he wasn’t able to maintain his velocity, and was topping out at 89 by the 3rd inning. No reports yet if the velocity returned for the 4th and 5th, but Marc Carig did refer to the 3rd as “aberrant”. We’re early in the rehab process and there’s still time for Hughes to build up his stamina, but it has to be noted that losing his velocity after the first few innings is exactly what was happening to him when he was starting for the Yanks (and getting bombed) earlier this year. If he’s not able to maintain his velocity deep into games, for whatever reason, they’re going to have to consider other options with him. But let’s wait and see how the rehab goes before we go any further down that road. For now, it was a positive 1st step for Phil.
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Olney’s tweet was unclear and seems to be based off some poor data. From everything else I’ve heard, he hit 89 in the 3rd, but his velocity over the course of the entire outing was 92-93, not just in the first two innings.
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Steve S. Reply:
June 19th, 2011 at 11:10 pm
Carig says he was topping out at 89 in the 3rd, but called it “aberrant”. I’d like to see if there are any reports saying the velocity was back up after that, especially in the 5th when he gave up the bomb. But even losing his fastball for one inning has to raise an eyebrow. I’m not jumping to any conclusions, but it has to be pointed out.
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Thanks for the info Steve. Was he pretty much all fastball, or were there some curves/changeups mixed in? If so, how did they look?
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Steve S. Reply:
June 19th, 2011 at 11:45 pm
I saw him throw a bunch of curveballs, and Pimpsner says the HR was on a change. He made hitters look foolish in the middle innings, but I didn’t like the very beginning and end. I’d love to get some radar readings from that 5th inning, where he got hit the hardest.
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Steve, thank you so much for the eyewitness account, which was much anticipated by all, I’m sure. I know you said the first inning was troubling to you and your seatmate and I also understand everyone’s preoccupation with his velocity throughout the outing.
However, I just wanted to say that, from your account of his first-time-back mound encounter, what struck me most profoundly was that he got himself into trouble in the first, and got out of it with three strikeouts.
I still don’t recall anyone in the Yankee organization categorically confirming what precisely his arm problem was — inflammation or ‘dead arm syndrome’ or whatever — but we all know confidence is key. Especially so for a first-time outing following such a scary high-profile vaguely diagnosed malady and extended layoff for such a young pitcher,
I for one was thrilled to see your account of that first inning. No account elsewhere I’ve seen provided your detail of that crucial sequence of batters and outcomes, which I personally find far more significant than whether his velocity increased after the third inning or not. Thank you again for your diligent, detailed and promising report.
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Eric Schultz Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 9:49 am
Agreed, excellent stuff Steve.
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[...] Yankees are stretching out Phil Hughes to return to a role in the starting rotation. Steve S. and I saw Hughes’ rehab start on Sunday in person, at MCU ballpark on Coney Island. Hughes beat the A-ball hitters like a drum, and was reported at [...]