Phil Hughes (Reuters)
TAMPA — Phil Hughes’ simulated game nearly resulted in a real injury.
The right-hander took a comebacker off his back in the first of his two innings yesterday at the Yankees’ minor league complex. Hughes was fine, but it was a closer call than he would have liked.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Hughes said with a laugh after he emerged from the 41-pitch outing unscathed. “It was a good test for it.”
PHOTOS: YANKEES SPRING TRAINING
Hughes is coming back from two bulging disks in his back and the ball, hit by minor leaguer David Adams, hit him lower than where Hughes was hurt. Overall, the session was another positive step in his attempt to be healthy in time for the start of the regular season.
So far, Hughes has impressed pitching coach Larry Rothschild.
“I don’t think it’s bothering him at all,” said Rothschild, who, along with manager Joe Girardi watched Hughes. “Before this [injury] came up, he was at a point where he was throwing the ball really well — as good as I’ve seen him — and I think he’s a little frustrated because he wants to be where he was before it happened right now. And it’s going to take a little bit of time. He’s not that far off.”
Hughes could pitch in a minor league game Friday or Saturday, and if he doesn’t suffer any setbacks, may be ready to make a start by the end of the first turn through the rotation. His main issue is stamina, since his arm strength is nearly back to where it was before he got sidelined.
The Yankees, as well as Hughes, have repeatedly said they won’t rush him back to make that start, though.
Hughes wasn’t the only veteran pitching against minor leaguers yesterday, as both Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera pitched in games against Toronto’s Class A teams to stay on schedule.
“I’m sure these guys pulled up and thought, ‘What in the world’s going on here?’ ” Pettitte said of the Blue Jays’ prospects facing the pair of 40-somethings.
Rivera threw two innings for the first — and likely last — time this spring.
“I wanted to stretch it a little bit,” said Rivera, who, unlike most relievers, doesn’t need to pitch back-to-back days to prepare for the season.
And Girardi was once again impressed by how Rivera has looked since returning from last year’s knee surgery.
“He looks as normal as he was [before],” the manager said. “He’s out here running after he threw. Sometimes you think if a guy’s a little worried about it, he might go ride the bike or do conditioning inside. He hasn’t done that at all this spring. He’s gone through all the drills, basically. Even if [the injury] slowed him down a smidgen, he’s a better athlete than most pitchers that are out there.”
Girardi said he has no intention of using Rivera any differently than he would have a year before he tore his ACL, but will keep in mind Rivera is 43 and monitor his appearances accordingly.
Pettitte got his pitch count up to 80 in his 5 2/3 innings, giving up a pair of runs. He plans on pitching again Saturday.
“It’s a work in progress,” Pettitte said. “I’ll try to go up probably to 90-95 [pitches on Saturday]. That will be my big start, really. [We’ll] try to push it as much as we can there and maybe back off on the last one.”
Most importantly, neither pitcher has had to deal with any physical issues this spring. And the Yankees would like to be able to say the same about Hughes going forward, avoiding both bulging disks and comebackers.
“It’s a good lesson,” Rothschild said. “When you go inside, you’d better get it there. He kind of got spanked. Thank God it didn’t have much impact on him, so he was OK.”