Hughes to 15 day DL

[Dry1313]

The Yankees placed Hughes on the DL today and announced that Bartolo Colon (Fat Toad 2.0) will take his rotation spot.

Hughes has been horribly ineffective this season due to a fastball that's been roughly 4 MPH slower on average, according to Fangraphs. In addition, his curveball has been flat and difficult to locate and his reliance on his slider and cutter has made him extremely predictable.

Colon pitched well enough in Fenway and it looks like the year off may have done him good; but between Colon, Freddy Garcia, and Ivan Nova, it's really difficult to think that the Yankees have a playoff quality rotation.

Hughes' decreased efficiency may also be due to the much lauded about "Verducci Effect:"

Named for Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated, this is a negative forward indicator for pitcher workload. Verducci, who called this the 'Year After Effect,' found that pitchers under the age of 25 who have 30-inning increases year over year tend to underperform. Will Carroll independently found that pitchers who break the "Rule of 30" tend to get injured. Carroll renamed this 'rule' the Verducci Effect in honor of the man who initially found the evidence.

Verducci Effect

It has a tremendous historical body of work to support it, and it appears Hughes has fallen subject to it as well.

My question to you all is whether or not you think that the Yankees should shelf him until July (and see if arm strengthening exercises and inactivity can counteract this issue)?

[realmofotalk]

Well of course any pitcher will fall subject to this so-called Verducci Effect when he goes from throwing 86 innings mainly in relief one year to throwing 176 innings as a starter the next year.

[Dry1313]

Well of course any pitcher will fall subject to this so-called Verducci Effect when he goes from throwing 86 innings mainly in relief one year to throwing 176 innings as a starter the next year.

Definitely true; Hughes is a flagrantly obvious case.

But this plagued Lester, Verlander (who have rebounded) Carmona (who hasn't) and tons of other pitchers as well. I can find some more numbers on it if you're looking for verification.

Verducci wrote about it the year after the Tigers went to the World Series in SI, and I first read about it then. It's been fairly accurate since then (although as you know all statistics have their outliers).

[Kingdom]

I hope he doesn't continue to follow the same path that these guys took:

Hughes has allowed at least five runs and pitched fewer than five innings in each of his first three starts this season, just the third Yankees starter in the live ball era to do so. The others are Chien-Ming Wang in 2009 and Brian Boehringer in 1995.

Good thing he's young and talented.

[Dry1313]

I hope so too.

That being said, I think trying something novel instead of pitching through the trouble is a good idea.

[love_that_reefer]

Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters that Phil Hughes' Monday bullpen session did not go well.
Hughes is going to meet with team doctors on Monday evening in an effort to find some answers about what might be plaguing his throwing arm. He simply hasn't been able to reach his normal fastball velocity and the Yanks may be worried that he has structural damage. Girardi acknowledged Monday's failed bullpener as an "obvious setback."

Possible bad news for the future of the Yankees.

[Dry1313]

Oh noooooooooo

seriously though, if that's true I just hope he recovers! He's a fantastic pitcher and a game to boot and we'll miss him terribly, but stick with him every step of the process.

[Dry1313]

I never thought I'd say this but thank God for Freddy Garcia, Kevin Millwood and Carlos Silva.


Awww, shit.

[Trendy Bastard]

I heard on espn today that silva is getting back in baseball shape. Lol unless they mean as in round like a baseball, I'm sure he hasnt been in shape for years.

[Kingdom]

I think he's on the Joba and Colon diet.