Well this is beginning to be a familiar pattern. I predicted yesterday 5 plus innings and at least 4 runs. That proved to be an optimistic projection. Phil Hughes has been consistently bad as a starter for a very long time. Why they keep running him out there is beyond me. I for one, have seen enough. I believe that Phelps, if given the opportunity, is a better pitcher. I know he got beat up last night as well, but I don’t believe it is a reflection of his ability as a starter when you bring him in from the bullpen.

Of more concern to me is the Yankees seeming inability to develop pitchers. Hughes has talent, but he is terrible as a starter. Pineda is gone for the year, so obviously the treatment plan for him was flawed. Banuelos is on the DL with a bad back. Betances has been terrible at AAA. Joba is most probably gone for the year. These guys all have talent, but the Yankees can not seem to find a way to develop them. There is more pitching talent in the minors, but who knows if the Yankees will be able to develop that talent into some effective starting pitchers. Very discouraging. I fully expect this Yankees team to score enough runs to beat up on the weaker teams and win enough games to make it to the playoffs, but this team still does not have enough pitching to consistently beat the good teams. Hopefully things will get better as the year goes on, but I don’t see a path to success right now.