The importance of Phil Hughes

By On February 5, 2012 · 5 Comments · In General Musings, Player Analysis

He looks like he's trying to figure it out.

In my last post I pointed out how important is to the Yankee offense. He isn’t important just because he’s a middle of the order bat who hits for power. Tex is important because the offense has had to compensate for his decline the last two years. That compensation has come from the bats of and , but if they have good but not great seasons then it will be Tex’s turn to compensate for them. He is important because he represents an x-factor to the team’s offense, one that can ease pressure on the other players.

If Mark Teixeira is that player on the offense, then is his equivalent for the pitching staff. Hughes gets a lot of praise for his 2010 season (“this guy was an All Star” is something Michael Kay says often) but the truth is that he had a great first half and never posted a FIP below 4.30 after June. Combine that with his execrable 2011 and Hughes has had a season and a half of bad baseball.

Despite this, Hughes always shows flashes of brilliance. His August 13th start versus Tampa Bay and his August 19th start versus Minnesota both come to mind. He was dominant, allowing just 3 runs over 13.2 innings in a two game stretch that reminded everyone why Hughes’ potential is so tantalizing. When he harnesses his full potential he is as dominant as any young pitcher in the league. His inability to harness that potential on a regular basis (to say the least) is what holds him back.

If a resurgent Mark Teixeira could be the difference maker in the Yankees 2012 season then a Phil Hughes who has figured it out could be the difference maker in 2012 and beyond. The Yankees are trying to put together the rotation for the next five years. will serve as its anchor, and the Bombers want nothing more than to follow him with a bevvy of young talent. is most likely to be the Ace in waiting, while is one more solid season away from being looked upon as a safe bet to be in the middle of the rotation. Knowing that Phil Hughes can be counted upon to give the Yankees 200 innings of quality baseball for each of the next couple of seasons will not only give the Yankees a solid rotation one through five this season, but will also ease pressure off the organization to have both Manny Banuelos and pan out as starters, something that remains unlikely with young.

This is why the Yankees will do everything short of intentionally injuring to give Phil Hughes the opportunity to win the fifth starter’s job coming out of spring training. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Hughes gets the job regardless of how he pitches. He represents tremendous upside for the Yankee rotation for the next three years. If Hughes can step up and repeat his 2010 performance, but do so with a more consistent season, he will be making a lasting contribution to the Yankees in 2012 and beyond.

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5 Responses to The importance of Phil Hughes

  1. TheOneWhoKnocks says:
    February 5, 2012 at 2:20 pm

    Next 3 years? I thought Hughes qualified for FA after 2013?

    So with Hughes they have 2 years left at around 5-7m a year in arbitration and Burnett 2 years left at around 15m a year.
    It used to be important for Hughes to get things figured out so that he could be a contributor for many years at a below market cost for the Yanks but at this point, it’s not important at all. He’s already costing the Yanks more than he’s worth and he’s close to FA.

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  2. Mike Jaggers-Radolf says:
    February 5, 2012 at 2:58 pm

    I’d draw the line at saying Hughes is not providing his salary in value. He didn’t in 2011, but he provided considerable surplus in 2009 and 2010. I want to see how Hughes does in 2012 before making concrete judgments about what he’s worth.

    Reply
  3. Scott A says:
    February 5, 2012 at 3:01 pm

    Send him to the minors! Let him work on his stuff and keep control of him for 13 and 14 instead of this year and next.

    Reply
  4. TheOneWhoKnocks says:
    February 5, 2012 at 3:19 pm

    If Hughes was a free agent I wouldn’t want the yanks to sign him for the contract he just agreed to in arbitration. His much hyped 2010 was pretty much 2 good somewhat lucky months, the rest of his career as a starter as been well below average(though young, hes been pitching in the bigs for 5 years now, with literally no sign of improvement) his stuff and peripherals don’t suggest that he can be an above average starter at the big league level.

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  5. Ryan says:
    February 5, 2012 at 6:19 pm

    I thought hughes looked a lot better when he came back from the dl. Fb was back to 92-93mph and his breaking ball looked good too. In that start against the white sox he looked like 1st half ’10 hughes(6ip 0er 4k) on the video highlights he hits 95 a couple times and drops some 82 mph curves. One more shot i say.

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