Joy R. Absalon – USA TODAY Sports
I’m not sold on Phil Hughes any more. When the guy isn’t injured, he’s wildly inconsistent. One day he’ll look great, the next he’ll look like he’s a high-schooler trying to throw in the bigs. The New York Yankees have been waiting for him to come along for about six years now, and with the exception of the 2010 season, he hasn’t been very impressive.
Take Hughes’ last five starts as examples. On April 28, he went six and gave up just two. On May 4, he went eight and didn’t give up any. Alright, so far so good. May 10, he went five and two-thirds, and gave up six earned runs. Well, that’s alright because he got the win, right? On May 15, Hughes managed to allow seven runs in just two-thirds of an inning, truly an incredible feat of mediocrity. Then, in his most recent start, Hughes pitched six innings and surrendered only two runs. If that isn’t wild inconsistency, then I don’t know what is.
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I think these starts illustrate my point perfectly. Phil Hughes is simply too unpredictable to be a successful big league starter. He’s like the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the Yankees; one day he’ll pitch a gem, the next he’ll be serving up lollypops.
The solution is to deal him before other teams realize that he’s not as good as he was supposed to be. I realize that the Yankees probably won’t do this, but I think it’s at least worth considering. After all, they’re paying him $7 million this year alone, and all he’s given them is a pitiful 2-3 record this season. Not worth it.
Kyle Massa is a New York Yankees writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylemassa, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.
