Philip Hughes
From BR Bullpen
Philip Joseph Hughes
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 5", Weight 220 lb.
- High School Foothill High School
[edit] Biographical Information
Philip Hughes was 9-1 with a 0.69 ERA as a high school senior, walking only 3 and striking out 83 in 61 innings. He was chosen to Baseball America's All-American high school team. The New York Yankees took him with the 23rd pick in the first round of the 2004 amateur draft and signed him for $1.4 million. He pitched three starts for the GCL Yankees that year, only throwing a total of five innings, striking out eight with no walks.
Hughes' first year as a full-time professional player came in 2005, when the right-hander went 2-0 with a 3.06 ERA for the Tampa Yankees, holding opponents to a 1.40 average, and he was 7-1 with a 1.97 ERA for the Charleston RiverDogs, allowing only a .192 average, 2.10 BB/9 and striking out 9.44 batters per 9 innings. Hampered by tendonitis and a tired arm, he didn't even reach 100 innings, but Baseball America still named him the Yankee minor league player of the year. The publication also rated him the #6 prospect in the South Atlantic League.
In 2006, Philip was 2-3 with a 1.80 ERA for Tampa and 10-3 with a 2.25 ERA for the Trenton Thunder. He pitched in the 2006 Futures Game, but was bombed for three runs in one inning of work, giving up a RBI double to Wladimir Balentien followed by a 2-run homer to George Kottaras. Hughes tied for the 10th lowest ERA (2.16) in the US-based minors that year and tied Matt Garza for the second-lowest average allowed by a minor league starter (.179). Baseball America rated him the best pitching prospect and most exciting player in the Eastern League and as possessing the best breaking pitch.
Hughes started 2007 in AAA, with a 2-1, 3.94 record for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees with 17 K and a .200 opposing batting average in 16 IP.
Hughes made his major league debut on April 26, 2007, in a losing effort against the Toronto Blue Jays at a time when the Yankee starting rotation was decimated by injuries. Hughes was the youngest player in the 2007 AL at the time of his debut, in which he allowed 7 hits and 4 runs in 4 1/3 IP. He was the third Yankees starting pitcher to make his MLB debut in the season's first 20 games, following Kei Igawa and Chase Wright; it had been 52 years since another team had done that - the 1955 Cardinals with Larry Jackson, Luis Arroyo and Floyd Wooldridge. In his second start, against the Texas Rangers on May 1, he pitched 6 1/3 hitless innings but was forced to leave the game because of a pulled groin muscle and was placed on the disabled list after the game. He did earn his first major league victory though, as the Yankees finished with a 2-hit 10-1 victory. He came back in July with the Tampa Yankees. In his first rehab stint, he allowed one unearned run in two innings, walking two, allowing no hits and striking out three.
Primary sources: 2005-2007 Baseball Almanacs
[edit] Notable Achievements
- Won a World Series with the New York Yankees in 2009
