Zell's Pinstripe Blog

Sorry for the lack of updates. My internet was knocked out.

     Phil Hughes has now pitched two quality starts since finishing off the regular season. In his most recent outing, Hughes put up these numbers: 5IP  4H  1R  1ER  1BB  3K. After that start he was selected as the Arizona Fall League’s Pitcher of the Week for the first week of action. It looks like Hughes has taken his positive finish of the regular season into the Winter Leagues as he has really impressed people. The goal for Hughes is to build up innings and have more confidence going into Spring Training. Phil might not admit it himself, but I think he wants to prove that he is the real deal. Phil went 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA in six starts before going on the DL with a stress fracture in his rib. It doesn’t get worse than that. I can only see things getting better for Hughes. As I have said before, I have high hopes for the kid. The Yankees say that they won’t be giving away jobs like they did last year to Hughes, but he will have to earn the spot. There is a long way to go until next season starts, and we don’t know who the organization will sign, but if he continues to pitch like this..I would assume that he would take the 5th spot in the rotation.

 ”I never tried to figure out what happened this year — I just tried to move forward,” Hughes said. “I’ll go to the Fall League and pitch well there and get some innings in, and then come into Spring Training ready to go.”

 ”I’m just thinking about getting back and pitching well and going into the spring with a good attitude,” Hughes said. “Innings, basically, are what I’m focused on — pitching well and commanding my fastball and everything else. But the main reason for being down there is getting innings in.”

By the way..I know this isn’t a NY Rangers blog, but I must say this. The NY Rangers #1 Draft Pick (17th Overall) in 2007 passed away this week. He collapsed on the bench, and died of a heart attack. We all had high hopes for the kid, and it was a big loss. He was only 19 years old. 

RIP Alexei Cherepanov