Watching Phil up close last night it was obvious that he had great stuff and excellent command for the most part but that he seems to be his own worst enemy. He was getting ahead of hitters early in the count then nibbling at the corners. I think he needs to learn to trust his stuff and be a bit more aggressive later in the count when he is ahead. He ends up throwing way too many pitches because he doesn't do that. He didn't pitch so tentatively in the minors and it was precisely because of that that he was so successful; he needs to develop a little disdain for the Hernandez boys and the Milars of the world. He'll be ok because that's part of the learning process he's involved in right now. The sooner he learns it the better he'll be. I'm not worried.

See you at the Yard again tonight! My first in person look at IPK; very psyched.

1 Another reason Hughes needs to be in the Majors. If he isn't trusting his stuff and needs to challenge Major league hitters, well there's only one place to do that. In the minors, he CAN nibble and just throw away.

However, I do think there are some mechanical issues, but I don't think they are something major. I think, as a 21 year old, he is just sometimes out of whack and, as he himself said, its pretty hard right now to adjust. But being 21 and not trusting your stuff is pretty normal I 'd say. The reverse also holds true where you are Josh Beckett and trust your stuff too much. What a game...

Let us not forget that was the first start for Hughes that was over 48 degrees too...

Also, super bummer that its a night game tonight. I really hate weekend night games, throws off my whole schedule!

Maybe I'm wrong but I'm little confused with Hughes pitching patterns. All I've seen from him is fast ball and curve and no third pitch.
His fast ball is 90 to 93 and his curve is excellent. But with only two pitches isn't he easy to guess what's coming next. I thought I saw a third pitch from him last year in his last five starts?

4 Hughes has both a curve and silder, but aside from them not being "there" yet, for some reason he only throws them about 2-3 times per game. He should mix them in a bit more, maybe 15 or so times as a "show me" pitch to do exactly what you said. He can easily get by with the two plus pitches, but the 3rd/4th would accent those nicely. His slider, oddly enough, was a great pitch coming out of HS, but the Yanks had him shelve it to focus on his curve and b/c sliders can tax the arm...

4 Jay I'd guess that he threw around 20% changeups last night and tossed in a few sliders as well. I could swear that something resembling the action on a two seamer was coming out of his hand as well but those could have been flat sliders. I think he was mixing it up pretty well; obviously I could be wrong but that was the impression I got from watching.

2 The main reason he needs to be in the majors is to keep He who must not be named in the minors.

7 According to Pete Abe, Farnsworth will be suspended for three days, so that should cheer you up!

8 Oh, it does.

7 YOu know, its absurd that you can get suspended for three days for MISSING a guy, yet, for instance, when A-Rod got hit (in the same location where Farnsworthless' pitch would have gone, if you look at it), nothing happens. The MLB suspension system is so f-ed up...

10 And last year, the Jays threw at A-Rod repeatedly (and missed him) and no one was suspended.

Given postgame comments, I'm not surprised that Farnsworth was suspended.

So I guess the people in charge have done away with 1pm starts?

I guess it makes sense. Why would I want to watch 3-4 games on a Saturday, when one will do?

13 I guess teams are tired of Fox's monopoly over their games, and would prefer that out of market fans actually get to watch their favorite teams. After all, when I watch YES on Extra Innings, I'm still watching the YES commercials, which means EI is making money for YES, if the game is at 7 PM. If the game is at 1 PM, Fox takes control and no one out of market gets to watch the game.

14 Yep. FOX's exclusive deal with MLB seems to have basically killed Saturday afternoon baseball.

Melky has been a decent CFer for us. However, at the time, many people, including me, thought we should get an available guy who was a stud. Anyway, instead, the Mets got him at 7/$119m ($17m AAV). Over the last 3 years, he has averaged 30 HRs and had a .870 OPS.

Soooooo.....
Did we make a big mistake NOT getting Carlos Beltran?

According to that guy Pete Abe:
"Word here at Camden Yards is that Joba Chamberlain will rejoin the team in time for tonight's game against the Orioles.

He has not pitched since April 10 but did throw to a catcher twice while he was in Nebraska attending to his father."

14 I would be perfectly happy if Fox broadcasted a 1pm game.

When I had RCN, I was able to watch some combination of Yanks, Mets, Braves, Cubs & White Sox. In addition to whoever was on game of the week, if it weren't on of the aforementioned teams.

I don't care who broadcasts the games, I just want to see baseball.

But, I suspect, I'm in the minority, because they did the same crap last year.

18 too, many, commas...

16 Depends, do you put more value in offense or defense?

16 It's like the contract with Johnny, or perhaps better, Bernie or Jason: we won't be able to tell until 5 or 6 six years into his contract. I still believe that they signed Bernie Williams v. 2, so by the end of the contract when he's 36, that'll be an albatross.