Good . . . Fair . . . Stinko.
Notice a disturbing starting pitching pattern across the first three Yankees games?
And we haven’t gotten to the back end of the suspect rotation that houses neophyte Ivan Nova, tonight’s starter, and veteran Freddy Garcia, who debuts Wednesday.
CC Sabathia was good on Opening Day. A.J. Burnett was fair in the second game while fighting a head cold. Phil Hughes yesterday?
P.U.!
Continuing an alarming trend that surfaced early in spring training, Hughes went to the mound with diminished velocity and paid a severe price when the Tigers punished him during a 10-7 victory that was witnessed by a Yankee Stadium crowd of 40,574.
That crowd arrived looking for the Yankees to open the season with a three-game sweep, but watched Miguel Cabrera crush a hanging slider in the first inning for a two-run homer to spark the Tigers’ victory.
When Hughes’ fastball didn’t get past 90 mph late in spring training, he wasn’t worried.
“I know I am not in mid-season [form]. If it’s 89-91 when we start I will be concerned,” Hughes said on March 23.
According to PitchFX, it might be time for Hughes to be concerned. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild certainly was.
“When you get going and start to see velocity, you can relax a little,” Rothschild said.
The 40 fastballs Hughes threw averaged 89.3 mph. The highest he got was 91 mph. Most alarming, of Hughes’ 90 pitches, only two produced swings and misses. And they were on cutters, a pitch Hughes worked on during spring training and went to 37 times yesterday.
Hughes said he threw so many cutters because locating his other pitches was a chore.
“I had to try to get by,” he said.
Hughes’ velocity as a starter a year ago was in the 94 mph range. He insists injuries aren’t holding him back, so it’s safe to assume the speed gun readings will spike. But when? And if they do, will he be able to sustain it?
Hughes’ putrid outing, combined with Bartolo Colon’s disappointing Yankees debut (four innings, six hits, four earned runs), dug a ditch too deep for the Yankees to climb out.
Jorge Posada homered twice, Mark Teixeira went deep for the third time in three games and Robinson Cano found the seats.
“It’s not necessarily difficult but it continues to be challenging,” Teixeira said of trying to erase deficits. “What you don’t want to do is start thinking you have to score 10 runs, then you press.”
Watching Cabrera victimize Hughes for a pair of two-run homers wasn’t shocking. Cabrera started the game hitting .417 (5-for-12) with a homer in his career against Hughes. His second blast yesterday reached the left-field bleachers in the third.
Nor should it have been surprising the Tigers spanked Hughes for five runs and five hits in four frames, because the starting lineup entered the game batting a combined .290 (18-for-62) versus the righty.
Tigers designated hitter Brennan Boesch went 4-for-4 with a two-run homer off Colon in the fifth and had four RBIs.
As for Hughes, Joe Girardi isn’t ready to push the panic button after one start.
“His stuff wasn’t real sharp, wasn’t as sharp as he has been,” Girardi said of his No. 3 starter. “I am not concerned about [low velocity]. I am more concerned about locating the baseball and he just didn’t do that today.”
Cliff Lee is in Philadelphia. Andy Pettitte is home. Nova and Garcia are in the caboose. That places a lot of heat on Sabathia, Burnett and Hughes. Three games in, it has gone from good to fair to stinko — with who knows what to follow.