Shannon McCarthy
A student at the University of Florida in Titletown --er, Gainesville-- Shannon has melded her lifelong affection for baseball and her penchant for writing to study journalism and eventually get into sports reporting. Her parents have tried to convince her to become a lawyer or something more lucrative so she won't end up in poverty, but to no avail. When she isn't working, in class or drafting a sports-related rant on her LiveJournal, Shannon can usually be found watching one of the teams near and dear to her heart: the UF big three (football, basketball and baseball), the Yankees and the New York Football Giants.
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The Return of the Yankees' Future Ace
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Yankees' top prospect Phil Hughes in his rehab stint in Tampa.
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The New York Yankees’ top prospect Phil Hughes took a major step on the road back to the Bronx on Monday night, pitching two strong innings in a rehab start for the Tampa Yankees.
Just the fact that he was pitching at all was good news for the Yankees and their fans, given that the gem of their farm system was sidelined for two months with injuries to his hamstring and ankle. Even better, though, was the fact that the wunderkind wasn’t hampered at all by the injuries.
“Everything was fine,” Hughes said Monday night. “Probably the most encouraging part of everything was that I didn’t feel a thing out there.”
Hughes did not allow a hit through two innings, giving up one unearned run, walking two batters and striking out three. He threw 36 pitches in all, 20 of them for strikes, and his fastball reached 94 mph.
The right-hander struggled with his control at first, walking the first batter of the game on four pitches. He quickly shook off the rust, however, and came back strong to retire the last five batters he faced, three of those by way of strikeouts.
“I was a little tentative in the first inning, but that’s to be expected,” Hughes said. “The second inning I felt a lot more comfortable. I was kind of letting it go and not really thinking about landing as much on my front foot or anything like that. The first inning was kind of shaky, but once I got into a groove, I was fine.”
It was the first time Hughes had pitched since straining his left hamstring on May 1 while in the midst of a no-hit bid against the Texas Rangers at Arlington. The right-hander later sprained his left ankle while doing agility drills during a rehab workout, prolonging his stay on the disabled list even further.
“It’s been very tough,” Hughes admitted. “Not just the fact that the team is struggling, but from a selfish point of view you never want to be out, whether I was in Triple-A or the big leagues.”
“It’s frustrating, especially to be out for that amount of time. Little injuries are going to happen, but when it’s something twice in a row like it did, it’s very frustrating. But I try not to dwell on it too much and move forward.”
Hughes said he hadn’t altered his pre-game routine at all in light of the injuries, though he has been careful to keep loose so as not to re-aggravate either injury.
“Today I heated up, which kind of doesn’t make sense in this heat anyway,” he said with a smile. “It’s warm just going outside, but I did it just to make sure I’m real loose.”
Hughes didn’t hold back at all during his brief stint, which he slightly regretted after a first inning elongated by errors behind him, as well as his own two walks.
“I was working at my normal pace, which was probably a mistake because I was pretty winded after the first inning,” he admitted with a laugh. “I probably should have slowed it down a little bit, but other than that, it was about normal.”
The right-hander even had a chance to field his position early on in the game, showing no ill effects as he moved agilely off of the mound to field a grounder and fire a throw to second base that would have been the start of a 1-6-3 double play, had first baseman Chris Malec handled the relay throw from second baseman Kevin Russo.
“I had to kind of go to my right, so I crossed over, so that was good,” Hughes said of his fielding chance. “I didn’t feel anything. I had to spin and turn to second base and it felt good, so that’s not going to be an issue.”
Comforting words for an organization and a fan base hungry for some positivity in what has been an unexpectedly trying and disappointing season thus far. The addition of Hughes will certainly be a lift for the team, and it doesn’t hurt that the boy wonder has a future Hall-of-Famer waiting to take him under his wing.
“Roger [Clemens] was down here working out before he made his rehab start, so I got to talk to him quite a bit over at the [minor league] complex,” Hughes said. “He’s a great guy and definitely a guy you can learn a lot from.”
Hughes was visibly relaxed and smiling as he answered questions, and he assured that he felt good after his two innings of work. While he is anxious to rejoin the team and his teammates at the major league level, Hughes said he is most excited just to get more innings in and be able to pitch again.
“That’s the biggest key for me right now,” he said. “I think I’m sitting on twenty-something [innings] right now for the year. I need to get up and make this year worthwhile innings-wise and contribute when I’m needed.”
As for what he’s concentrating on the most during his journey back to the big leagues, Hughes stressed that he’s mainly focused on getting enough work in so that he feels ready to perform.
“It’s just a matter of getting innings in,” he said. “There’s really not one thing that’s going to be a tell-tale sign of whether I’m ready or not. It’s just a matter of an accumulation of things: velocity, how I’m getting off the mound, all that kind of stuff. They don’t want to bring me back when I’m still kind of ginger on it.”
The Trenton Thunder, the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate, announced on Tuesday that Hughes will make his next starts for the Thunder on Friday, July 13 and Wednesday, July 18 at Waterfront Park in Trenton, New Jersey.
While he knows the Yankees will be cautious about bringing him back too soon, Hughes was uncertain how many rehab starts the team will ultimately want him to make.
“I have no idea,” he admitted. “All I know is that my next rehab start is in Trenton.”
Although he could rejoin the Yankees’ rotation after his second rehab start in Trenton, the organization may decide to send him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for one more rehab assignment before adding the young right-hander back to the roster.
Have a question or comment for Shannon? Email her at shannonmccarthy@sportsgrumblings.com
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