Following the (unofficial) moves that paired starting pitchers Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda with the New York Yankees, a glaring weakness has been turned into a glowing strength. With the first four spots in their rotation accounted for the New York Yankees will now choose between Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Freddy Garcia for the fifth and final spot. At this point, a lot of fans seem ready to kick Phil Hughes to the curb – or at least banish him to the bullpen. One way or another though, the former top prospect can still have a significant impact on the New York Yankees’ success…as a starting pitcher.
The first and most obvious way for Hughes to impact the Yankees positively is to perform at a higher level. While many aforementioned fans have already written him off, I’m not quite ready to do so. Is he going to develop into the No. 1 starter that the industry projected? I don’t know. It doesn’t look like it, but the list of starting ...
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