KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Phil Hughes is Lucy. His stuff is the football. The Yankees are Charlie Brown.
How many times will the defending American League East champions try to kick that football, hoping not to fall on their backs once more?
One of baseball’s biggest teases, Hughes finally pitched a good game yesterday, leading the Yankees to a series-evening, 10-4 victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. And with Andy Pettitte saying he’s ready to come back to the major leagues, the Yankees face a logjam in their starting rotation.
The simple move would be to recognize Hughes’ overall 2012 ineptitude as a starter, remember his 2009 success as a reliever and execute the switch, making Hughes the seventh-inning guy in the post-Mariano Rivera bullpen.
The simple move, in this instance, would be a mistake.
“Yeah, I liked the way he pitched today, a lot,” said Yankees catcher Russell Martin. “I want to see that from him every time.”
“It’s a process,” said Hughes, who allowed three runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out seven, to lower his ERA to 6.67. “If I can continue to pitch well and throw well, I’m sure I’ll continue to get more trust.”
The Yankees can’t give up on Hughes now because of what he can be. We got a taste of it in the first half of 2010. We have seen this season that, even when opponents knock him around, he misses a lot of bats. He now has 30 strikeouts and eight walks in 28 1/3 innings.
“I think the reason his name has been brought up so much is because of what he has done in the past and with the injury to Mo,” said manager Joe Girardi, conveniently omitting Hughes’ abominable first month. “But this is also a guy who has won 17 games in the rotation, too. He’s done some pretty good things in both places.’’
In addition to locating his fastball better — and still throwing it at 95 mph after passing the 100-pitch mark — Hughes also showed off an improved changeup, using it to strike out Kansas City’s lefty-hitting Mitch Maier in the fourth inning.
Simply, Hughes looked like a pitcher who had a clue of what he was doing, albeit on a day with strong run support and against a mediocre offense, and who could effectively use multiple weapons.
“I just tried to stick with a game plan,” Hughes said. “Stay really aggressive with my fastball, throw off-speed when I needed to.”
“It’s just his attitude on the mound. Much more aggressive,” Martin said. “That’s what we need from him. Go out there. If he’s going to get beat, give it all he has. [Don’t] be tentative.”
So what’s the move, then? Pettitte didn’t put up very good numbers in his start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre yesterday. Perhaps the veteran lefty could benefit from another start in the minors.
As Girardi said before the game: “You’ve got to feel his pitches are where they need to be to compete. Anyone can go out and throw 100 pitches. But they have to be quality pitches.”
If the club deems Pettitte ready, then it should integrate Pettitte into the rotation, giving either him or Hughes an extra day’s rest, and demote David Phelps. It would make sense to send the promising Phelps, who will start Wednesday against the Rays, back to Triple-A so he can start every fifth day.
Regardless of how it happens, Hughes has to stay where he is. Because the bullpen, for now, seems capable of surviving Rivera’s season-ending right knee injury, whereas the starting rotation doesn’t overflow with such quality.
It wouldn’t shock us in the least if Hughes got bombed in his next start, even with the banjo-hitting Mariners the likely opponents. If that happens, then it would be time to reassess the situation once again. One start at a time.
“I’ll continue to put out the rotation as we go forward,” Girardi said. “But [Hughes] pitched a great game today.”
Probably not “great.” Good enough, though, to take another run at that football. Knowing the risks attached.