In case you were wondering where Phil Hughes rehab was headed, Hughes made his first rehab start yesterday pitching for the Staten Island Yankees. Prior to yesterday’s start, Hughes had pitched a few bullpen sessions in order to build up his arm strength, but yesterday was his first test.
Hughes threw 4 1/3 innings allowing 3 hits and striking out 7 batters. He was pulled in the fifth inning after he allowed a home run. (only run allowed) He was limited to 60 pitches as part of the rehab, and actually had to use 24 pitches in the first inning alone. On the bright side, he wound up striking out the side to get through the first inning.
Although the numbers mean very little in the broad scheme of things, it was encouraging to see Hughes pitching well. He has been on the DL since April 15 for his dead arm, following a few starts where he never hit 90 mph. While pitching yesterday, he consistently hit 93 mph. At one point he even reached 95mph with his fastball. His velocity has grown slowly during this rehab process, as he had only hit 93 mph last Tuesday while pitching down at the Yankees training facility in Tampa.
Assuming he continues to successfully rehab, he will start a game down in Double-A Trenton later this week. Last week Girardi said Hughes will likely have four or five starts before he joins the Yanks, so it’s likely he could return in early to mid July. Of course that all depends on how Hughes holds up. Either way, he’s made some progress and his velocity has grown considerably.
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