Phil Hughes Shows Improvement In Second Spring Start

Last time, of course, was his two inning, four hit, two run outing at JetBlue Park. It was his first game action since his thoracic outlet syndrome surgery and the Red Sox monsters made loud and consistent contact. His pitches lacked velocity and precision. This time his pitches simply lacked velocity.

Ed Smith Stadium’s radar gun showed that Hughes was sitting around 88-89 with his fastball/cutter combination. He touched 90 a couple of times. But Hughes wasn’t overly concerned over those figures.

“I don’t necessarily want to say ‘OK I have to throw this pitch as hard as I can right now because I have to prove that I am healthy and back’,” Hughes said.

In evaluating the difference between the two outings, Hughes said as opposed to his start against Boston, he felt like he was in the driver’s seat, working ahead in the count which allowed him to open up the tool shed and deploy some of his secondary pitches. Facing a formidable Orioles lineup which included Adam Jones, Manny Machado, Mark Trumbo and Chris Davis, Hughes was able to use his cutter, curveball and changeup.

“Starting off with some strike ones, throwing some decent cutters, moving the ball around the zone, elevating. I actually had a chance to work on some things instead of trying to get back into some counts like I did last time.”

He did start hitters off with strikes. Phil Hughes threw a ton of strikes as Phil Hughes is wont to do. Phil Hughes throws a ton of strikes. That has never been an issue. He was ahead in the count on a regular basis, giving him the chance to use some of his secondary pitches. And, like he said, Hughes did throw some decent cutters. His best was perhaps the first one he threw when he froze Baltimore’s Hyun Soo Kim on a classic backdrop cutter.

“I think I had a seven or eight pitch sequence to [Kim]. I figured I’d take a chance on 3-2 so it was nice to execute that pitch,” said Hughes. “It was a pitch that really eluded me my last outing, it felt kinda all over the place. I guess that is sorta to be expected for my first one and today I felt a lot more comfortable and located the ball better.”

On the flip side, Hughes had five hitters in 0-2 counts. He allowed three of those hitters to reach base. In the first inning, Manny Machado pulled what Hughes called a “decent curveball” on 0-2 down the third base line for a double. One batter later Hughes found himself 0-2 against Mark Trumbo, only to fall behind in the count and eventually walk him. He did the same thing to Kim in the third inning, who wound up being his last batter of the afternoon.

One of the issues Hughes has struggled with over the last two seasons is finishing hitters in strikeout situations. According to ESPN/TruMedia, Hughes has a .243 average against in two-strike counts, the third-highest among qualified pitchers. In 0-2 counts specifically, Hughes has a .250 average against compared to the .155 league average.

“A big thing with us is to try to limit the 0-2 hits,” Hughes said. “There’s a fine line because you still want to make a competitive pitch on 0-2, not just waste one, but at the same time make sure it is a quality pitch.”

Hughes did make the effort to put hitters away. Against Trumbo, he threw two fastballs at Trumbo’s eye level, only to have him foul the two back. Back in 2014, Hughes had success throwing his fastball in the upper third or higher, resulting in 42 strikeouts. That, however, was when he was sitting 92. The current 88-90 version of his fastball is not likely to achieve the same outcome.

Manager Paul Molitor said that Hughes executed the game plan despite not getting the desired results in those two-strike situations. With Trumbo, the Twins wanted to work up above the zone, which Hughes did several times. Molitor credits Trumbo for battling what he considered tough pitches. Hughes’ style, Molitor said, was going to occasionally allow counts to swing from 0-2 to 2-2 in a hurry as he tries to set up an out pitch.

“I think Phil understands that he’s such a command guy that he has to push people off the plate, especially when he is ahead in the count and elevate a little bit,” Molitor said.

In terms of how he feels compared to previous seasons, Hughes wouldn’t take the bait.

“I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself and compare it,” he said after his second start of the spring. “I’m just trying to go through every day and do what I have to do and I feel like at the end of spring I’ll really have a more clear idea of where I’m at.”

There are several more weeks of spring training remaining for Hughes to ramp up, add velocity, and improve his command. At the very least, Hughes is happy with his progress so far.