Phil Hughes may be named to the AL All-Star team, but that doesn’t mean the Yankees right-hander will get to pitch.
Hughes improved to 10-1 on the season with his seven-inning three-run effort in yesterday’s 5-3 win over the Mets, and he remains such a strong candidate to be picked for next month’s Midsummer Classic even Hughes admitted he’s thinking about it. But whether he’d be able to take part is questionable.
For one, Hughes currently is scheduled to start on July 11, the Yankees’ final game before the All-Star break. A new MLB rule prohibits any pitcher who starts on the final Sunday before the break to pitch in the All-Star Game. So if Hughes stays on schedule, he could be picked by All-Star manager Joe Girardi, but he’d be replaced on the game roster and ineligible to pitch.
More importantly, the Yankees have an innings limit on Hughes believed to be in the range of 170-175 innings, including the playoffs. He’s at 82 1/3 innings through the season’s first 69 games, on pace to exceed his maximum. So it’s hard to see the Yankees allowing Hughes to throw even an inning in an exhibition game.
Presumably, the Yankees would like to have Hughes make the team, but not pitch. They can do that by keeping him on schedule to pitch that Sunday. Also, the Yankees don’t want to do what they did last year with Joba Chamberlain, who was on an innings limit, and force Hughes to make shortened starts. One way to rest Hughes would be to skip his final turn before the All-Star break, then not bring him back until the fifth game after.
“I think about it. I don’t bank on anything,” Hughes said of making the All-Star team. “A lot can change between now and then. But it would be nice.”
Hughes said that he’s “a little surprised” at his 10-1 record.
“I don’t think I’ve pitched well enough to really have that record,” he said. “But the offense has been great and I’ve pitched some good games. But really some of them have just been lucky and trying to keep us in the game and things like that.”
Hughes, who entered the day with the best run support in the major leagues, could have been being modest, but it’s not as if his ERA is bloated: It stands at a strong 3.17 after his seven-inning, three-run start.
Hughes was able to avenge his lone loss, which came on May 22 at Citi Field. That night he gave up four runs in 5 2/3 innings.
On Friday, Hughes said in that loss to the Mets he “probably didn’t attack them the way I wanted to.”
This time, hs said, “I felt like I did.”
mark.hale@nypost.com