New York Yankees’ Phil Hughes urged to rest arm as he works on building arm strength – MLB Update
The New York Yankees do not have Phil Hughes in their rotation and it was a big debate on whether the player should be sent down to the Minor Leagues. Manager Joe Girardi affirmed that the board room was very close on sending the pitcher, but in the end
they opted to put him on the 15-day disabled list.
While the reason for being on the list is termed as a shoulder inflammation, there is no doubt that the pitcher needs time to work his pace. The decision to put Hughes on rehabilitation came from Girardi, pitching coach Larry Rothschild and General Manager
Brian Cashman.
"We felt that it would be better to not put him in game conditions because we didn't think that he could necessarily get the work that he needed to build up physically the strength, the inflammation," Girardi said prior to the Yankees' series finale against
the Rangers. "We didn't think it was best to do that. We thought it was best to put him on the DL. Let's be smart about it."
Hughes’ bad performance in the season so far can be attributed to the velocity issues he has been suffering. In 2010, the pitcher won 18 games and lost eight in 29 starting games. Furthermore, his earned run average was 4.19. Unfortunately, now his ERA is
13.94 from 10 innings. Against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, the fastball thrower gave up five runs in four innings.
The major problem has been the dip in pace. The hurler has relied heavily on his cut fastballs in the past and that has many believing he is losing speed on four-seamers. Where he used to pitch between 92 to 94mph, he now pitches at 89mph.
Manager Girardi however gave a little different opinion on the situation. He says that no matter what other deliveries a pitcher throws, he can lose his velocity if he does not focus on the fastballs. He clarified his opinion by saying that pitching fastballs
builds arm strength. If strength declines, command over other deliveries also falters.
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