MLB

Hughes’ season going way of velocity: south

Phil Hughes needs to go to the bullpen to try to work out this new Yankees reality show: Velo Woes. If that doesn’t work, the next stop for Hughes should be the minor leagues.

And no, the Mets did not abuse Hughes’ right arm.

Going to the bull pen will give Hughes the chance to breathe, try to figure it all out and still be able to work closely with new pitching coach Larry Rothschild. In 2009, the bullpen was Hughes’ salvation.

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If the bullpen isn’t the an swer, it’s on to Plan C and the minor leagues. Maybe Hughes can pull a Cliff Lee-like re-birth from the minor league stage. Lee, the Yankee Who Wasn’t, blanked the Nationals, 4-0 last night, striking out 12.

Hughes, on the other hand, was dreadful again, putting the Yankees in a 5-0 hole against the Orioles at Yankee Stadium. He did not make it out of the fifth inning and retired just six of the last 12 batters he faced over 4 1/3 innings. Despite that, the Yankees charged back to win 6-5 in 10 innings on Nick Swisher’s sacrifice fly.

“I had a chuck-and-duck mentality out there,” Hughes said, adding he would do whatever the team wants him to do. Something has to be done.

“It’s not my decision to make,” Hughes said of a move to the bullpen or the minors. His velocity has dropped from 93-94 mph to 88-89. “This is just something I’ve got to get through, hopefully it comes back overnight. Whatever it is, whether it is bullpen, minors, long toss, just whatever it is, I’ve got to make sure I do it.”

Hughes said he doesn’t think going to the bullpen is the answer.

“If I were throwing a lot of balls, that would be one thing,” he said. “But me going down there and throwing as hard as I can, maybe for an inning that would be good, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a long-term solution.”

The current plan sure isn’t working, though.

“I can’t keep going out there and digging us a hole,” Hughes said.

Hughes reached 91-92 mph early in the game but soon flat-lined. The same can be said for his season. Hughes pitched a combined six innings over his previous two starts. His ERA is 13.94.

Hitting the velocity wall continues to be a disturbing trend for young Yankees pitchers.

This is not a short-term problem, as the Yankees would like you to believe. After going 11-2 before the All-Star break last season, Hughes went 7-6 with a 4.90 ERA in the second half. He pitched a gem against the Twins in the first round of the playoffs, but was hammered in two starts against the Rangers, going 0-2 with an 11.42 ERA.

He has had a problem since last July.

Hughes, 24, doesn’t have the answer for his loss of velocity. General manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi don’t have a clue, either. It’s mid-April, but the first-place Yankees have monster pitching woes with Hughes at an early crossroads and lefty reliever Pedro Feliciano headed to shoulder surgery that could end his career.

“It’s important to get depth from our rotation,” Cashman said before the game when asked about Hughes’ Velo Woes. “Right now he hasn’t been fully equipped yet because of lack of velocity. The only way to get through that is to pitch. It’s a tightrope we’re walking as we try to get his feet back on the ground. His history has been that his velo comes over time, so we’re waiting on it.”

After the game, Girardi said: “He’s still not right and it’s our job to get him right. He’s got to pitch to get things right, he can’t just go on a sabbatical or something. We have off-days coming up, a lot of things we have to discuss.”

What’s lost in the lack of velocity saga is the fact that Hughes has not been able to command his pitches. A spinning first-pitch cutter was hit for a two-run home by Nick Markakis in the third inning to kick off the Orioles’ scoring.

The Velo Woes continue.

kevin.kernan@nypost.com