Phil Hughes: Stats and Links

[JB_Iowa]

I was browsing for New York articles about Phil Hughes and found this one that does a good job of describing where he was statistically before today's game: http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/on-base-perception-1.3631854/phil-hughes-scouting-report-twins-edition-1.8293339

 

While it doesn't offer up a lot of new information, it certainly gives some hope that PH's excellence in the last month and a half can continue:

 

- Can he sustain this start? Hughes' peripherals look strong. He has a .328 batting average on balls in play and 74.6 left on base percentage. Those are normal. Anything below a 70 percent LOB is a cause for concern. Starters tend to have a BABIP around .300. Hughes' is .296 lifetime. So, if anything, his .328 is a little high and it could come down.

 

 

Newsday also had a nice little story on Hughes' "rebirth" with the Twins:

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/phil-hughes-a-new-man-as-he-faces-yankees-on-sunday-1.8293472

 

 

Also from this story: http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2014/05/ex-yankee_phil_hughes.html

 

"I feel pretty good with my mechanics right now," he said. "I have tried to simplify things. I feel really comfortable and everything has been kind of clicking. I feel I never really get out of my delivery too much, which has enabled me to throw a lot of strikes and get ahead of guys. That's kind of where the control stuff is coming from."

 

and

 

Interestingly, Hughes said that after a while the comparisons to Clemens and the huge expectations weighed on him.

"It's tough to live up to those exceptions," he admitted. "People talk about those kind of things and anything less is a failure. That's tough sometimes. So I think it was probably a good thing for me to come here and not have those kind of things tied to me. I can just be who I am and just pitch."

 

 

He certainly pitched -- and pitched well -- today.

[Twins Daily Admin]

This is awesome. It's really nice to be on this side of things, and I can hardly wait to see what the papers there say after today's gem. I liked this quite a bit.....

 

He signed a three-year, $24-million contract with the Twins in December, a deal that now seems like a relative bargain. The Yankees' starting rotation, meanwhile, has been wracked by injuries. "I don't really look at it as redemption,'' [Hughes] said, "but I did want to bounce back badly and I'm glad I've been successful here so far.''

[jokin]

This is awesome. It's really nice to be on this side of things, and I can hardly wait to see what the papers there say after today's gem. I liked this quite a bit.....

 

This seems like a clear case of a player benefiting from a change in scenery. Hughes seemed to be a basket case last year in NY. It's hard to say if he could have duplicated what he's done so far this year with the Twins if he had stayed in the Big Apple- the media was relentless and merciless on him in New York.

 

Perhaps this is a new marketing niche for the Twins to attract future FAs?:

 

"You only have to put up with one part-time Strib blogger, Patrick Reusse's cheap shots, ignore him and his antiquated and ridiculous grading curve and his unfounded sarcastic rumors about your health should you happen to get injured, and you'll thrive with the MN Twins."

[Guest USAFChief]

To repeat myself from the game thread: I was pretty skeptical of the Hughes contract last winter. So far at least, I could not have been more wrong. He has been very, very good by any measure. If he can remain at all close to this level, it's a fantastic signing.