Our old friend Phil Hughes put together another stellar performance this afternoon, going three-plus innings and yielding five runs (including three homers) with nine hits and two walks to no strikeouts against the O’s. You can say it’s early, but going back to last season he has averaged 4 2/3 innings and 4.4 runs over his last five starts.

He hasn’t thrown seven full innings since September 13 of last year (six starts ago) in Boston, and has thrown just two shutouts (the aforementioned 9/13 start and on 8/17 — in which he surrendered 4 unearned runs, so does that even count? — both against a flailing Red Sox club) in his last 19 starts.

I know it’s only two starts into the season — and I try to stay as optimistic as possible when it comes to baseball, I really do — but to say that Phil Hughes has been a disappointment would be an understatement. This kid, who will be 27 in June, was touted as the savior of the Yankees’ rotation; he was purportedly the first homegrown pitching stud the team has had since Pettitte. Now what?

He will probably bounce via free agency at the end of the season, leaving behind a 99 ERA+ in 639 innings (prior to Saturday’s start) over parts of seven seasons in New York. Even during his 18-8 campaign in 2010 his peripherals weren’t great (proving yet again that pitcher wins is a dumb stat).

Philip Joseph Hughes will always have a special place in my heart — he was the first pitching prospect I was old enough to follow all the way through the minors and we have the same middle name — but I expected so much more out of him. I hope he figures it out and makes me eat these words, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Remember when we thought we had it all? All we got was Phil’s empire of dirt.

It’s Tuesday morning and the good news is that the Yankees have been relatively healthy for the past few– you know what? I should know better. Every time I do that something catastrophic happens.

Strike that previous statement.

Michael Pineda threw a 35-pitch bullpen session this morning and came out of it alive. Another pitcher coming back from injury is Phil Hughes and he threw a bullpen session yesterday and also came out alive.

CC Sabathia is scheduled to throw a bullpen session today and will throw in his first live game on Friday.

Boone Logan threw a bullpen session this weekend with no issues. He had a balky elbow.

Man, the Yankees really do have a lot of injuries. It’s a little crazy.

Ivan Nova is making the start on the road for the Yankees this afternoon. The weather is a little iffy down in central Florida today but reports are saying that the Yankees and Rays should be able to get the game in.

Here’s today’s lineup:

Eduardo Nunez SS
Jayson Nix 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Juan Rivera 1B
Francisco Cervelli C
Melky Mesa CF
Thomas Neal LF
Zoilo Almonte RF
Corban Joseph 2B

That’s a “the Yankees are playing on the road in the Spring” type of a lineup.

Have a good day, everyone.

Happy Saturday afternoon, Yankee fans!

Here are some stories for you to read about the boys in Pinstripes:

• George King of the New York Post writes about Eduardo Nunez‘s new arm motion. It seems the Yankees realized something needed to change – um, duh? – and that it wasn’t Nunez’s range, it was his throwing arm. Well, yes.
• Nunez tweeted this message late last night: “God bless me on this new season so I can show people that talk bad about me that they are wrong!” In other words, “Suck it, haters.”
• Phil Hughes may throw as soon as tomorrow – he’s been cleared to play catch – and may be back and pitching by March 14. Hooray!
• Dave D’Alessandro of the Star-Ledger writes about Robinson Cano‘s 2013 and the expectations Cano will be facing as he inches toward his new contract. I hope Cano has a typical, out of his mind type of contract year. That would be fun for us to watch.
• This piece by Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News talks about how some Yankee fans are still not ready to accept Kevin Youkilis into their Yankee fan arms. Well, my advice to them is suck it up and get over it already. Youkilis is a Yankee, you can’t do anything about it so stop acting like petulant children.
• According to Chad Jennings of the Lohud Yankees Blog, Melky Mesa has pulled out of the WBC.

And finally, today’s lineup against the Tigers:

Gardner CF
Ichiro RF
Cano 2B
Teixeira 1B
Youkilis 3B
Hafner DH
Diaz LF
Nix SS
Stewart C

Nova RHP

The pitchers also scheduled to pitch in today’s game are: Rapada, Aardsma, Kelley, Montgomery, Daley and Rondon.

The game will be on the YES Network at 1:00 p.m.

The first full week of Spring Training – full as in the whole team was in camp – is nearly over and what have we learned?

Well, for one thing, we learned that the Yankees are open to switching the defensive alignment of the outfield by placing Curtis Granderson in left field and allowing Brett Gardner to patrol center field. This is all in the beginning stages and it may not even come to fruition but the fact that the Yankees are open to this idea makes me happy. I believe the stronger outfield would have Gardner in center.

Another thing we learned is that Ichiro Suzuki is pretty funny. From him showing up on the first day of training camp in a glittery Yankee cap – at least according to the beat writers who couldn’t take pictures in the clubhouse so there actually isn’t any proof that this hat exists. I guess we’ll have to take their word for it – to his quote in which he subtly made fun of the New York sports media for focusing on Derek Jeter’s weight which, surprise surprise, turned into a non issue to him tipping his cap or, in this case, helmet after he blasted a batting practice home run off fellow countryman Hiroki Kuroda. I like Ichiro. He can stay.

Next up, we have Mariano Rivera who seems to be healthy and ready to pitch in 2013. He threw his first live batting practice and said he felt good. He said that he was more worried about how his knee would respond to fielding practice than he was about pitching. You and me both, Mo. Let’s hope everything stays copacetic.

Jorge Posada returned to Tampa as a guest instructor this week. He already shot down the comeback idea. According to Posada there will be no repeat of what happened with Andy Pettitte last season although some Yankee fans wouldn’t mind it considering the team doesn’t actually have a starting catcher as of this moment.

Phil Hughes hurt his back earlier in the week and was diagnosed with a bulging disc. The Yankees conservatively estimated he’d be out two weeks. Hughes started getting ready for the season two weeks earlier than usual so these next weeks off, according to him, will put him right on schedule. Or something.  Frankly, I’m concerned because this is the third season in a row that Hughes has had a back issue. His 2012 ended when he left Game Three of the American League Championship Series with a back problem.

What else happened in Tampa?

• Joba Chamberlain grew this thing on his face. 
• New Yankee Kevin Youkilis arrived and hugged it out with Joba.
• Alex Rodriguez issued a statement about his rehab and the New York Daily News which seems to be obsessed with Alex, reported that he ate at the same seafood restaurant three nights in a row this week. He ordered oysters. No word on if this is all a part of his rehab.

It’s only for a few days but Phil Hughes seems to be the first “casualty” of the 2013 season. He injured his back fielding a grounder during pitcher fielding practice.

Joe Girardi said Hughes saw a doctor but wasn’t aware of any tests being taken. Hopefully this is just a slight derailment. And I can’t say anything snarky about back injuries as I once threw mine out after blow drying my hair. Yes, seriously.

No Hangovers!

I’m not going to lie to you guys. After waking up this morning, I re-read my game recap from last night and I didn’t even remember writing 90% of those words. More surprisingly, I didn’t even enjoy 1 beverage last night. Nope. I was simply intoxicated, drunk off the shots that Raul just keeps on pouring out for us. I was also super paranoid about the nonsense that people would be writing about A-Rod this morning, which caused me to rattle off a string of sentences starting with “I wish” and “I hope.” I was utterly crazed. Luckily, after a good night’s sleep (albeit one that only lasted 3 hours or so), and major avoidance of mainstream sports media this morning, I can start to mentally prepare myself for Game 4. Join me.

For me, these day-after-dramatic-win games are always rife with letdown potential. Of course, one could say that the Orioles should be experiencing a hangover of sorts as well, but after watching Buck’s presser last night (and, well, knowing Buck) I doubt that he is going to tolerate any moping from his guys. Based on the way this series has gone so far and the way the Yanks and O’s locked horns during the regular season, we should probably be expecting another nail biter. Let’s take a look.

Game 4: Joe Saunders vs. Phil Hughes
Tonight, Yankee Stadium at 7:37pm EST on TBS

Joe Saunders…Him?

Remember when we all had a good laugh at Joe Saunders’ expense when he was chosen to start the Wild Card game, in Arlington, against a righty-laden mash brigade from hell? Right. Personally, I’ll reserve judgment on the decision to send Saunders to the hill in Game 4. Like most decisions Buck Showalter has made this year, tapping Saunders in the Wild Card game ended up paying off, as he turned in 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, on 77 pitches. Saunders was lifted with the Orioles leading 2-1 with 2 outs and the bases empty in the Bottom of the 6th, as Darren O’Day was brought on to retire Nelson Cruz to end the inning. Saunders really only had 2 innings where he ran into any kind of trouble, but Buck got him out of there and turned to the O’s solid pen before (what many believed to be imminent) disaster struck. I think it is probably safe to assume that we’ll see a similar strategy employed tonight.

In one start against the Yankees this season on September 8, the infamous Jerry Meals Game, Saunders allowed 5 hits and 2 ER in 5.1 innings of work but labored through his 101 pitches. It was a pretty typical Saunders outing: lots of soft stuff, never a pitch over the middle of the plate, a couple of long innings, somehow the wheels didn’t come off. In 28 games started for both BAL and ARI this season, Saunders allowed at least 1 run in all but 3 of them. For a guy who barely strikes anyone out (5.1 K/9 career) he generally does a good job of mitigating damage by limiting walks (2.0 BB/9 in 2012). He isn’t the guy who I would want out there for my team with the season on the line, but hey, nothing the Orioles have done this year makes any sense. Who am I to judge?

The Yankees have actually faced Saunders in October recently, taking him on twice in the 2009 ALCS when Saunders was with LAA. In those 2 games, Saunders allowed 5 ER on 13 H in 10.1 IP, striking out 5 and walking 6. Including the postseason, there are quite a few Yankees with rather gaudy numbers against Saunders. Derek Jeter, in particular, has tuned him up with 10 hits in 25 PAs, including 2 HR. Do you think he’s going to sit tonight? I’d bet against it.

Yankee to Watch: Alex Rodriguez And all eyes will be on him, won’t they? A-Rod has 8 hits in 24 careers PAs against Saunders, including 2 2B and 2 HR. I know that many narratives would lead you to believe that A-Rod is done forever, but Saunders seems like the type of guy that may be perfect for Alex right now. It’s easy to forget that Alex hit lefties quite well this year (.924 OPS, 8 HR). Additionally, Alex’s recent struggles have mainly come on 90s+ fastballs out over the plate, probably due to some combination of age and a not-quite-fully-healed-hand. Saunders doesn’t feature a serious heater (about 88, can get up to 91) so if he is foolish enough to leave one over the middle, Alex may be able to dispel some criticism tonight.

Phil Hughes

This is a big game for Phil. Huge, even. Phil’s postseason career has already been an interesting one for someone only a few months past his 26th birthday. Many remember his first taste in the 2007 ALDS, when Roger Clemens’ old legs gave out for the last time and Phil came in with 5.2 innings of stellar relief. In the 2009 postseason, Phil was unable to duplicate his regular season setup success, allowing 6 ER in 6.1 IP while walking 6. 2010 Phil provided us with a strong start against MIN, followed by 2 clunkers against TEX. So what does this all mean for 2012 Phil? Nothing. Nothing at all.

Hughes’ last regular season start was on September 30, so like Hiroki coming into last night, he’s had ample time to rest what may have been a weary arm down the stretch. After a superb performance against Boston on September 13, Phil failed to reach the 7th inning in each of his next 3 starts, allowing at least 4 ER in each outing. Perhaps coincidentally, those 3 starts all took place after Phil had already exceeded his previous (regular season) career high in innings. I know that I’m a habitual Phil Hughes apologist, but I’m banking on the fact that the guy was just running on fumes and that we will see a renewed Hughes tonight. Additionally, good starting pitching can be contagious, and the Yankees’ starters have been dynamite thus far. You can bet that Phil doesn’t want to be the one to break the chain.

Phil has taken the hill against the O’s 4 times this year, with 2 good outings and 2 relatively poor ones. His most recent outing against the Orioles on September 7th in Baltimore was solid (6 IP, 6 H 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K) but he was rocked on September 2nd at the Stadium (5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 2 HR). For the most part, we saw a good deal of consistency from Hughes in the 2nd half, and I think the added rest will restore whatever seems to have been lacking in his final 3 starts of the season. Is it a hunch? Yes. But if Joe can follow his gut, maybe I can too.

As is the case with any Hughes start, the main key will be keeping the ball in the ballpark. This is especially important against the O’s, who rely heavily on #toomanyhomeruns. Five members of the Orioles’ lineup have taken Hughes deep in their careers. Two of them have done it twice. Phil’s chances of leading the Yanks to the next round rest on his ability to keep the ball in the ballpark.

Annoying Orioles Player to Watch: Nate McLouth SSS Alert, but McLouth is 4-for-6 in his career against Hughes with 2 2B. Also, I just really don’t like his face.

Let’s Finish This Thing

I love me some winner take all games, but let’s leave that to the other 6 teams, okay? A win tonight means the Orioles are finally off the Yanks’ backs for the first time since forever ago, CC would be ready to rock for Game 1 of the ALCS, and Jeter would have a day to rest that foot. Going for the throat would be greatly appreciated.

Enjoy the Quadrupleheader today, folks. It’s guaranteed to be the last one of the year.

The pitching rotation for the ALDS vs Baltimore has been set:

CC Sabathia – Game 1
Andy Pettitte – Game 2
Hiroki Kuroda – Game 3
Phil Hughes – Game 4

This is the rotation I was expecting. Actually, I think everyone was expecting this rotation.

Some people may be surprised by Pettitte being the #2 but it makes sense when you take into account what’s transpired in baseball, oh I don’t know, the last 16 years. Plus, Kuroda has been great at home this season.

The announcement of the rotation means we are one step closer to the series beginning. The next 24 hours are going to go by so slowly, I can feel it.

STOP DOING THIS TO ME

I think the Yankees may be trying to kill me or at least make me age at least 3-5 years every game they play this week.

This easily could have been one of those games, you know, the kind that makes you want to punch holes in your walls. And it actually was heading in that direction when the Jays took a 5-1 lead in the fifth inning. Phil Hughes was taken out of the game after surrendering all five runs on eight hits. He walked two batters, struck out four and gave up a home run. Yes, I know, shocker.

Derek Lowe came into the game to stop the bleeding and actually did what he was supposed to do. He pitched 1.2 innings of no-hit, no-run ball. Boone Logan also did his job by getting a left handed batter out and then even got a right handed batter out!

Amazing!

The Yankees scored one run in the sixth inning thanks to a Henderson Alvarez wild pitch which scored Nick Swisher from third. That pulled the Yankees to within three.

When the seventh inning started, two moves were made. Toronto replaced Alvarez with Brett Cecil and Joe Girardi pinch hit Eduardo Nunez in place of Eric Chavez.

The Yankees won that move when Nunez singled to start the inning.

Next, Toronto brought in Steve Delabar who promptly gave up a ground rule double to Derek Jeter to put runners on second and third with no outs. Ichiro Suzuki hit a sac fly to cut the lead to 5-3.

In one of the biggest at bats of the year, Alex Rodriguez, worked a walk against Delabar to put runners on first and second with one out.

Robinson Cano stepped in and hit his 46th double of the year which scored Jeter and pulled the Yankees to within one run, 5-4.

Toronto, once again made a pitching change, this time bringing in Aaron Loup who added his own wild pitch which scored Rodriguez from third to tie the game at 5-5.

Just as things were getting good for the Yankees, Nick Swisher lined into a bad luck double play to end the inning.

Still, the Yankees came all the way back to tie the game. Momentum seemed to be on their side.

After Lowe and Logan combined to pitch a scoreless bottom of the seventh the Yankees made things happen in the eighth. They scored two more runs thanks to a walk, a single, a sac bunt, a sac fly and a single. The run scoring sac fly was hit by Nunez and the single by Jeter.

David Robertson pitched a scoreless eighth and the Yankees came up big again in the top of the ninth.

Rodriguez singled, Cano singled and Swisher walked to load the bases against Jason Frasor. Then Curtis Granderson hit a rocket down the right field line for a double which scored both Rodriguez and Cano. The Yankees went up 9-5.

Now, you didn’t think things would end all nice and tidy with a 1-2-3 inning by Rafael Soriano, did you? Come on, kids. You know better than that.

Soriano had to make it so scary that most Yankee fans were looking for brown paper bags to breathe into. He gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases with no outs.

Then by the grace of God or some other force of nature, Soriano got Yunel Escobar to ground into a double play. Yes, a run was given up but hey, I’d give up one run for two outs any day of the week. Especially with a four-run lead.

Thankfully, he got Adam Lind to ground out to second to end the game.

Untuck, Yankees win, all that jazz, breathe in, breathe out…

So the Yankees are still tied for a share of first place in the American League East because there was no way Baltimore was losing to Boston because Boston is absolutely horrible.

Anyway, hold onto your butts Yankee fans, these final three games are going to be frightening.

This had the makings of another annoyingly frustrating game for the Yankees even though it seemed like it could possibly be a cakewalk at first – something the Yankees haven’t had in a while.

After three full innings of scoreless baseball by both starters Wei-Yin Chin and Phil Hughes, the Yankees struck first in the top of the fourth. Russell Martin provided the first blow – a three-run home run – and Steve Pearce provided the second – his own two-run home run. The Yankees were up 5-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth.

Hughes answered with a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth. Yes, folks, the New York Yankees scored a bunch of runs and their starting pitcher didn’t surrender any of his own in the following half inning. Amazing. (Of course the bliss wouldn’t last but we’ll get to that later.)

In the top of the fifth, that guy Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run home run to put the Yankees up 7-0. Hughes, again, answered with a scoreless bottom of the fifth.

I jokingly predicted last night that Hughes would hold the Orioles homer-less tonight. I should have amended it and said, “…in the first five innings.”

After the Yankees were held scoreless in the top of the sixth, Adam Jones put the Orioles on the board with – you guessed it – a three-run home run to cut the Yankees lead to 7-3.

Cody Eppley replaced Hughes in the seventh inning and gave up a solo shot to Robert Andino to bring the Orioles even closer, 7-4. Joe Girardi replaced Eppley with Boone Logan who induced a ground out from Nick Markakis and got J. J. Hardy to fly out to left. No further damage was done.

The eighth inning was uneventful for both teams unless you count the fact that David Robertson came out without his signature high socks. Oh and that he threw some curveballs to make Adam Jones look completely silly during a three-pitch strikeout. He also got Matt Wieters to fly out to center to end the inning.

The Yankees scored an insurance run in the ninth inning thanks to a single by Derek Jeter and a bit of a miscue by Robert Andino that allowed Ichiro Suzuki to score.

Rafael Soriano came in to pitch the ninth and got Mark Reynolds to strike out. The Yankee killer finished the night 0-4. Chris Davis was up next and flied out to left. Manny Machado decided he wanted to join the home run party and hit a laser out to left to make it 8-5.

Soriano regrouped and got Andino to strike out on three pitches to end the game.

Alas, a cakewalk was not meant to be tonight but at least the Yankees were still able to prevent Baltimore from taking sole possession of first place in the AL East.

Some notes:

• Tonight’s victory was Phil Hughes’s 50th of his career.
• Hughes has now given up 33 home runs this season.
• A-Rod’s home run was his 300th as a Yankee.
• From ELIAS: Rodriguez is the 6th player to hit 300 home runs for the Yankees. The Yankees have more 300-HR players than any other team – both the Braves and Red Sox have five each.

(Syndicated from The Yankee Analysts)

There’s nothing like a good bounce-back victory to help get rid of the rancid taste of last night’s loss from everyone’s mouth.

Phil Hughes, who struggled in his last outing against the Blue Jays, went seven innings for the Yankees, only giving up one earned run on four hits and out-dueled Ricky Romero who also went seven innings tonight, giving up two earned runs on five hits for Toronto. Romero, who started the year 8-1 is now 8-12 for the Blue Jays.

Hughes struck out five and the lone run was a solo shot by Adeiny Hechavarria.

Nick Swisher started things for the Yankees in the third inning with an RBI single that scored Jayson Nix. Nix had himself a good night at the plate finish 2-3 with two singles – he was the only Yankee with a multi-hit night. Curtis Granderson hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth which scored the newly arrived Steve Pearce for the Yankees’ only other run.

With the way Hughes pitched, two runs were enough to win. And with the Yankees lineup tonight, two runs seemed like a miracle.

New papa David Robertson needed only five pitches to retire the Blue Jays in the eighth and Rafael Soriano added a perfect inning of his own in the ninth to close out the game and pick up his 34th save of the year.

The Yankees will try to close out the series with a victory tomorrow afternoon at the Stadium with CC Sabathia taking on J.A. Happ in a battle of pitchers with initials as first names. Happ is 9-10 with a 4.68 ERA and Sabathia is 13-3 with a 3.44 ERA.

(post syndicated from The Yankee Analysts)