Jared Hughes
From BR Bullpen
William Jared Hughes
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 7", Weight 226 lb.
- School Long Beach State University
- High School Santa Margarita Catholic High School
- Debut September 7, 2011
- Born July 4, 1985 in Stamford, CT USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Jared Hughes made his big league debut in 2011.
Hughes was picked in the 16th round of the 2003 amateur draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays but opted for college. The tall right-hander went 8-3 with a 2.83 ERA as a sophomore; six of his fellow moundmates were drafted that summer. He had a 7-0, 1.62 summer for the Chatham Athletics of the Cape Cod League. Baseball America rated him as the league's #18 prospect, just ahead of Todd Frazier. In his junior year, Hughes was 8-4 with a 3.67 ERA as the club's #2 hurler after Drew Carpenter and ahead of Vance Worley. The Pittsburgh Pirates took him in the fourth round of the 2006 amateur draft. He signed and joined the Williamsport Crosscutters, going 1-2 with a 2.74 ERA. He was promoted to the Hickory Crawdads but struggled at 5-4, 5.77 with 31 walks in 48 1/3 innings.
Jared was 8-9 with a 4.64 ERA for the 2007 Crawdads. He remained wild, leading the South Atlantic League with 27 wild pitches, tied with Daniel Bard for third-most in the minors. His 109 strikeouts led the Pirate farm system. Hughes split 2008 between the Lynchburg Hillcats (3-9, 4.60) and Altoona Curve (2-2, 4.94). Hughes only pitched 17 games for Altoona in 2009, going 1-6 with three saves and a 3.88 ERA while battling shoulder problems; he had a brief rehab stint with the GCL Pirates.
Back with Altoona the next season, Hughes was 12-8 with a 4.42 ERA and only 41 walks in 150 2/3 IP. He tied Brooks Brown, Tom Milone, Drew Naylor and Rudy Owens for second in the Eastern League in wins, two shy of Kyle Drabek. Hughes tied Kyle Weiland for 7th in the circuit with 120 strikeouts. He began 2011 back with the Curve and was 3-4 with a 4.09 ERA after 13 games. Promoted to the Indianapolis Indians, he moved to the bullpen and fared very well (3-1, 2.11 in 35 G).
That earned him a September call-up to the 2011 Pirates, who had just been hit by injuries to pitchers Paul Maholm and Kevin Correia. In his MLB debut, he relieved Brian Burres in the 4th inning of a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros. Down 4-1 with men on the corners and two out, he retired Jimmy Paredes to end the 4th. In the 5th, he retired J.D. Martinez and Carlos Lee. Matt Downs singled, but Jason Michaels grounded back to Hughes. In the bottom of the 5th, he was yanked for pinch-hitter Brandon Wood.
