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Phil Hughes has been one of the most talked about trade pieces on the New York Yankees. He was drafted to be a star, but constant inconsistency has kept him from reaching his full potential. Hughes is in the final year of his contract with the Yankees and there’s no reason they should re-sign him, leaving a trade as the only option.
As I said, Hughes has a lot of potential and has shown it at various times throughout his Yankee career. But there’s two things holding him back from being one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball: the inconsistency, as I mentioned, and the disadvantage of being a fly ball pitcher in the home run friendly Yankee Stadium.
First, the inconsistency. Hughes is 4-9 this season. At times, he runs off streaks of good and bad outings. Sometimes he can make himself look like the best pitcher in the world, and other times he makes you question why he’s on the team.
Of all the pitchers on the Yankees, I’d say he gets the most criticism from the fans about his performance on the field.
But Hughes has been pitching better lately, tossing 5.2 innings, allowing three runs –- none of which were earned, though — against the Texas Rangers Tuesday night, and prior to that, he struck out 10 in seven plus innings against the Minnesota Twins on July 13.
July has been his best month, with a 2.63 ERA in four starts, pitching to a 1-2 record – he was only given one run in support in both losses.
One of those losses was the outing against the Twins, in which he tied a season-high in three home runs allowed. This is where we go back to Hughes being a fly ball pitcher in a home run friendly park.
While New York may want Hughes to be a Yankee, his track record doesn’t suggest that he fits in the Bronx. This season, Hughes’ numbers when pitching at home are much worse than his numbers on the road, in nearly the same amount of innings.
Over the past three seasons, Hughes has given up 48 home runs at home — that’s 27 more than what he’s served up on the road. His home ERA is 4.72, while it stands at 4.19 away from Yankee Stadium.
So it’s clear, trading Hughes not only helps the Yankees, but it’ll certainly help Hughes’ career.
Hughes should want to be traded. He would thrive in a larger ballpark, like, say, Oakland or even the Mets — should the two sides be interested when the time comes this offseason.
He may not be the biggest starting pitcher on the market, if he’s actually on the market, but as a rental player, be could probably get some decent return — likely another much needed bat for the lineup.
Gavin Ewbank is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, @GavinEwbank2013.
