TAMPA — When Phil Hughes thought about his 2010 season this winter, the Yankees pitcher did not relive the 18 wins, the All-Star appearance or his strong ALDS start.
Instead, the right-hander thought about his poor second half, which finished up with two poundings from the Rangers in the ALCS.
“The wins were there, but I fell off big time in the second half,” Hughes said yesterday after throwing a bullpen session at the Yankees’ minor league complex.
“I was disappointed with that. It’s one thing to kind of have a slow start and have a good second half. You think about all that success in the offseason. When you have a bad second half, all I thought about was those bad games, because there weren’t very many good ones mixed in there.”
After going 11-2 with a 3.65 ERA in the first half of 2010, Hughes went 7-6 with a 4.90 in the second half. Looking back, the 24-year-old feels he got away from throwing his changeup when he was having success early in the year, and then couldn’t find the pitch when he needed it later in the season.
“It seemed like I could do no wrong in some games where I didn’t throw it at all,” Hughes said.
“It’s hard to keep something fresh in your repertoire when you’re never using it. I felt like that might have hurt me a little bit, just not having it. Then, maybe when fatigue set in and I really needed that changeup to help me get through these games, it just wasn’t there.”
Even with the struggles, last year was a breakout season for Hughes, who bounced between starting and the bullpen for the first three years he pitched in the majors. Last spring, he won the No. 5 starter’s job and then began the year on a tear.
This spring, Hughes won’t have to fight for a job, but he’s trying to maintain the same mentality as last year.
“I don’t think it really matters that I have a spot lined up,” he said. “I’m trying to keep that same attitude, just look at it like last year. The circumstances may be a little different, but I want to go in with the same mental attitude, try not to change anything.”