Phil Hughes

He's been a Yankee killer for the past few years. He is a big hero up in Boston. Big Papi, yeah! What's been going on with David Ortiz? Bill Simmons wrote an article in the June 15 issue of ESPN the Magazine that will please Yankee fans everywhere. He's been slumping big time. Mr. Simmons compared him to Clark Kent in Superman II when he lost his powers and ended up getting beat down by a bully. He also said that in a game against the Twins that Big Sloppy couldn't even keep up with a 89 mph fast ball. Red Sox fans are even jokingly saying that they need to mail him some HGH. Well, they can do that all they want because it looks like Big Papi has become Big Sloppy.

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His resume speaks for itself. You can't deny it. Replacing him in the bullpen is Phil Hughes. He is still young. He needs to continue to mature. What better place to continue to grow as a pitcher than around pitchers like Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett. We are talking about a good 30-40 years of experience combined from these pitchers. There is no doubt that

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Check out the standings. Tomorrow's pitching matchup is very interesting. Phil Hughes, who's been pitching really well lately, will go against Carl Pavano. Let me park on these 2 players for a second.

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We had heard over and over that the Yankees were not going to rush Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Joba Chamberlain and other pitchers through the minors. Yet that's exactly what they did in 2007, an

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n-Ming Wang joining nine other Yankee pitchers on the DL, including future hotshots Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes. That leaves them with a rotation of Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Darrell Rasner, and a still-developing Joba Chamberlain, with Dan Giese expected to step into the fifth starter role.  That’s a shallow rotation, weighted at the older and younger ends like a barbell. Hurry up, C.C. Sabathia.

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After last night's disaster in Joba Chamberlain's first career start, things were back to normal tonight for the Yankees as they didn't have to deal with the media circus.

 Mike Mussina took the ball looking to get the Yankees back on track by ending their three-game losing streak.  He did so, pitching six effective innings and earning the win.  The win was number nine for Mussina, which ties him for the league lead. Mussina, whose loss of velocity has been well documented this season, kept the Bluejays hitters off balanced with an array of different offspeed pitches and a fastball which sported impressive late movement.  One night after Chamberlain went 2.1 innings in his first start, the Yankees were in need of a good start to give the bullpen a bit of a breather and Mussina provided that.

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eir farm talent through the years that only "can't-miss" prospects like Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy (two-thirds of whom are struggling or injured) still remain. There are more prospects behind them, but they're a year or two away, at least, and the Yanks must clear room for them by shedding some of their aging vets.

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is a little dated now because Ian Kennedy threw much better last night but the Yankees need him and Phil Hughes to step it up.  They also need Damon, Cano and Giambi to give them something (again this is a little late because Damon had a nice night and Cano hit the game winning homer but they still have struggled).

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oung pitching prospects in any trade package for Santana and will instead rely heavily upon rookies Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy this season. While all seem very promising prospects, the Yankees will still have to endure that rough patches that young pitchers are prone to, as well as carefully monitoring the innings each will be allowed to work this season. Chamberlain, who is on the most limited number of innings, will actually start the season in the bullpen, and could possibly join the rotation after the All-Star break. Though Hughes and Kennedy will be in the starting rotation, their innings are also limited and cannot be expected to work too deep into games, even when they are pitching well, just so that they can be stretched over the course of the season.

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s.  Maybe next year they sign CC Sabathia, Pettitte comes back, Wang continues to be great and Phil Hughes proves to be the stud people think he will be, then it is time to think about moving Joba into the set-up role but for now, he should be a starter.  When you think about it, this is a good problem to have because wherever the Yankees use him, there is no denying, Joba will rule.

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