Hughes is ahead of schedule

This was not in the Yankees' plans for their prized pitcher

Jim Baumbach

11:18 AM EDT, April 24, 2007

Due to a rash of injuries to their starting staff, the Yankees were forced to call up prospect Phil Hughes in mid-April. (AP Photo)

Is it a desperation move or out of necessity? How about both? No matter how you look at it, the Yankees are turning to Phil Hughes to pitch on Thursday, and that's way ahead of the schedule they had planned for him.

Whenever a team has one of these can't-miss pitchers under their control, there's an incredible amount of pressure on team officials not to screw him up. People will even lose jobs (see former Trenton manager Billy Masse) if they don't follow the team's laid-out plans ever single baby step of the way.

That's what makes it such an interesting decision by the Yankees to turn to Hughes now, in a decision that is based solely on their pitching crisis. No one probably would dare say this now, but back in spring training all we heard was that the best thing for Hughes might be to spend the season at Triple-A.

But less than a month into the season he's the one the Yankees are turning to, not so much as a savior but more as a stopgap. This, we know for a fact, was never in the carefully drawn-out plans for the 20-year-old righthander.

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All it took was one great start at Triple-A, a six-inning scoreless gem last Wednesday that reminded everyone in the organization just how dominant Hughes has been in the minors, especially last season pitching at Double-A.

There were even some people in the organization raise your hand, Ron Guidry who spoke up on behalf of Hughes late last summer when the Yankees were seeking a starting pitcher not named Pavano to pitch for them.

So why not now?

There's nothing wrong with their decision to turn to Hughes, not in the sense that they might as well see whether he is able help them at a time of crisis. But what makes this incredibly interesting is their history with him, and how out of character this call-up is in comparison to how they've treated him in the past.

The Yankees have babied him so much over the last few years, taking special precautions every time he mentions even the slightest bit of discomfort. It even frustrated Hughes, he admits, at least back in the beginning before he understood this was how it was going to be and there's no use fighting it.

Calling up Hughes would be far more understandable had he dominated Triple-A the same way he played with Double-A hitters last season. But Hughes is coming off an up-and-down spring training and carried it over into the season.

There's no denying his stuff is outstanding; Jason Giambi has likened him to a "Young Rocket" after facing him in spring training the last two years. But let's not forget about what happened when Hughes took the mound in the spring training opener last month, when a bout of nerves got the best of him.

Hughes struggled with his command, allowing a run, a hit and two walks as well as a wild pitch in 1 1/3 innings. "A kid who gets excited, he wants to go a million miles per hour instead of just taking everything slow and doing everything properly," he said that day. "That was the biggest thing for me."

And you can bet there's going to be a lot more nerves flowing on Thursday, especially for those team officials anxiously watching from upstairs.