Phil Hughes has gone 10 starts without a win. Now, he’s heading to the bullpen.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Hughes’ spot in the rotation will be filled by left-hander David Huff Saturday against Boston.
“It’s been an up-and-down year for Phil, and Huff has been throwing the ball well,” Girardi said after last night’s 6-4 win over the White Sox. “And we’re just going to make the change.”
Hughes has had far more downs than ups this season, in which he has gone 4-13.
Before the game, before he knew of his fate, Hughes said his lengthy struggles had affected him mentally.
“I try not to think about any of this stuff when I’m on the mound,” Hughes said. “It’s difficult sometimes, for that not to get into your head. If it’s one or two bad starts, it’s easy to brush off. But when it continues to snowball, it can be difficult.”
As much as Hughes has talked with pitching coach Larry Rothschild about his pitching performance, the two also have talked about him keeping his focus despite the troubles.
“He’s a guy who’s had success and won quite a few games over the years,” Rothschild said. “Now you’re asking him to do something that’s almost not humanly possible, to not think about what’s going on.”
Hughes’ issues only became more glaring with the emergence of Huff, who gave up just one run in 5²/₃ innings of relief in Monday’s win over Chicago. He came in for Hughes, who was forced from the game after 1¹/₃ innings because of a lengthy rain delay.
Huff, claimed off waivers from the Indians in May, said he was “looking forward” to getting the start and that his recent improvement was due to being more aggressive on the mound.
Hughes now will go back to pitching out of the pen, where he has done well at other points of his career — though this is not the move a pitcher would hope to make as he approaches free agency.
“I just want to do whatever I can to get us to the postseason,” Hughes said before the game, aware that a move to the pen was possible. “I can’t change my own bad performance or bad luck. I just have to forget about what’s happened.”
He’s also attempting to include another pitch in his arsenal.
“We’ve tried to add a split-finger for a swing-and-miss pitch since [pitching with] two strikes has been a problem,” Rothschild said. “We want a pitch to put people away a little quicker, but if you try too much, you can make it worse.”
At this point, it seems hard to believe Hughes could make it worse.
“It’s a tight race and that’s my only motivation,” Hughes said. “I’m not going to miraculously make my numbers more respectable. And I’m not someone to dwell on what could have been. For whatever reason, this year has not been kind to me, but I believe things happen for a reason.”