On this day in Yankees history: Phil Hughes' complete game gem vs. Detroit

By -
For most fans like myself, Phil Hughes was more or less a disappointment in pinstripes, never living up to his star potential the Yankees thought they were getting when they drafted him 23rd overall in the 2004 MLB Draft.  Over seven seasons in the Bronx, Hughes went a combined 56-50 with 4.53 ERA. Following the 2013 season, one in which he went a pathetic 4-14 with a 5.19 ERA over 29 starts, the Yankees elected not to re-sign Hughes.  He would sign a three year, $24 million contract with the Minnesota twins that December, and after an extension in 2014, he'll be with the Twins under contract through 2019. 
Photo credit: Jeff Kowalsky/European Pressphoto Agency


For one shining afternoon in Detroit in 2012, however, Hughes out-dueled the reigning American League Cy Young and Most Valuable Player, Justin Verlander, in a 5-1 Yankees victory.  This is no small feat when you consider the stacked lineup the Tigers had that year, anchored by Prince Fielder and the 2012 MVP and Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera. This was also, of course, the same Tigers team that would ultimately sweep the Yankees in the 2012 American League Championship Series. 

Photo credit: Getty Images
Right from the start in this one, the Yankees gave Hughes a lead.  Derek Jeter would lead off the game with a home run against Verlander and Curtis Granderson would score on a Mark Teixeira sac fly after reaching on a walk.  Hughes, on the other end, had no trouble retiring a potent Detroit lineup all day, as he allowed just four hits, three walks, and one run (a fourth inning Prince Fielder home run) across all nine innings.  He would also rack up eight strikeouts and throw a career high 123 pitches. 

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/8879974/v22004743/6312-hughes-goes-the-distance-to-upstage-verlander/


 These days, when he's not on the hill for Minnesota, you can find Hughes as one's of Twitter's biggest jokesters.  For a guy who has struggled to live up to his potential, he is certainly not short on humor. 


While Hughes' Yankees tenure, on the whole, will be remembered way more about all the home runs he gave up, his inability to put hitters away in two-strike counts, and his ultimate failure to live up to the sky high potential he had, I wanted to throw back to this game today as a reminder of what could have been, had he been able to flash more of this type of stuff on a regular basis.

Article By: Andrew Natalizio

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Six early trade targets for the New York Yankees

By -
Image
The Yankees currently sit at 32-17 and are on top of the AL East. Despite this, the team has some areas it could improve in; however, Brian Cashman will not have to dig into his pocketbook or pick up the phone to get all the help this team needs. The team is expecting reinforcements off of the IL on both sides of the ball over the course of the next two months, which should give this already successful team an even bigger boost. However, this does not mean the Yankees will be silent on the trade market as more injuries could amount, setbacks can happen, and other teams will acquire big pieces resulting in the Yankees not wanting to fall behind. The Yankees are coming off two consecutive successful regular seasons followed by postseason failures, and still have the minor league talent to swing some game-changing deals. With this in mind, here are six early candidates to keep an eye on as the major league season transitions into the summer months.

Read more

Creating a Yankees' trade package: Marcus Stroman Part Two

By -
Image
Last year we delved into various trade opportunities for the Yankees, and they ended up acquiring one of our proposed targets of J.A. Happ. In 2019, the first place Bombers will again look to the trade market for rotation help. The IL-Yankees of 2019 have lost Luis Severino, Domingo German, James Paxton, and C.C. Sabathia to injury at some point this year, and Severino is still on the IL. With the uncertainty of Severino's return to form and the heaps of question marks surrounding the rest of the rotation, it is obvious the Yankees could use another arm to the rotation. 



Read more

Six implications of the Edwin Encarnacion trade

By -
Image
News broke last night that the Yankees had made their first splash of the summer trade season by acquiring slugger Edwin Encarnacion from the Seattle Mariners. Encarnacion is the American League home run leader and will be a welcomed addition to the team he has hit well against over the course of his career. To many including myself, this trade was very fuzzy at first glance. The Yankees did not have a need to acquire an offensive player, especially when their pitching has been their weakness, thus far. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton’s imminent returns further blurred the reasoning behind this trade. However, after further thought, I have come up with six implications that result from this trade, all of which help make sense of this move.
Read more