New York Yankees pitcher Philip Hughes will be out at least another eight weeks. The youngster underwent X-Rays on his fractured rib yesterday to see how the healing process was going. The rib has been healing but not to the point yet, where the Yankees would let him begin to throw. The team has decided he can’t start a throwing program for at least two more weeks.
Once Hughes begins a throwing program, it would take about six weeks for him to be major league game ready. By then there can be one of two scenarios. The first? The Yankees rotation is drastically different with traded pieces holding spots (possibly Cleveland Indians C.C. Sabathia, one can only hope). If that were the case the Yankees could look at having Hughes pitch long relief the rest of the season, or spend the month at Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre then bring him up in September when the rosters expand to 40.
The other scenario, the roster has stayed the way it is now. If that is the case, Hughes would most likely get a chance to win his job back from Darrell Rasner. That could be easier said then done has Rasner is currently 3-4 but sporting a sub-4 era, minus his start against Oakland, he’s been pretty solid. Regardless, its hard to take someones starting spot away because of injury, so Hughes should get all the chance to get his role back.
The big test for Hughes once pitching again is proving he can stay healthy. In his two seasons in the bigs, the youngster has missed considerable time due to injury. No matter who good he pitches, he’ll never be counted on as a rotation stable till he can prove durable. Without doing that, he’ll just be another solid pitcher who can’t stay healthy, a la Rich Harden.
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