2013 New York Yankees Recap: Phil Hughes

Sep 25, 2013; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher

(65) pitches during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

There are many words you can use to describe the 2013 campaign of New York Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes. Some of those I can’t necessarily use on this post. Others of them are like this: horrible,  horrific, terrible, awful. Once deemed the “Pocket Rocket” and thought of as being the potential 1A to CC Sabathia‘s 1, Hughes was anything but in 2013. It’s not like Hughes didn’t have good moments as a Yankee. The Yankees don’t win the World Series in 2009 without him. He was the bridge to Mariano Rivera and was absolutely dominant in doing so. He made the All-Star game in 2010,when he won 18 games. He even won 16 games in 2012. Before we look ahead, let’s close the book on Hughes’ 2013.

2013 stats: 4-14 5.19 ERA. 1.45 WHIP. 121 strikeouts in 145.2 innings. 170 hits allowed. -0.7 WAR

2013 Game Of The Year:  His performance May 4th against the Oakland Athletics looked a lot like the 2010 Hughes. Hughes went eight shutout innings, gave up four hits, walked two and struck out eight as the Yankees won 2-1.

2014 Outlook: Hughes is a free agent, and it’s safe to say the Yankees won’t be offering him a $14.1 million qualifying offer. I don’t believe Hughes is a bad pitcher. I do believe that his confidence is shot and a change of scenery would be a great idea for him. He’s a flyball pitcher that can get a lot of outs in a spacious ballpark. Yankee Stadium is not that. There were many home runs that he gave up at the stadium that wouldn’t have been homers in other parks. I think Hughes has a good future ahead of him. I don’t believe it will be in Yankee pinstripes.