Minnesota Twins: Phil Hughes moved to bullpen

Two years ago, Phil Hughes set a record for the best strikeout to walk ratio. Now, he finds himself demoted to the Minnesota Twins bullpen.

Phil Hughes was supposed to be a starter the Minnesota Twins could count on. The Twins took a shot on Hughes after the New York Yankees let him leave via free agency after the 2013 season. Hughes responded winning 16 games for the Twins and setting the Major League record for the best strikeout to walk ratio ever at 11.63 and was seventh in AL Cy Young voting.

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The Twins then gave Hughes an extension, which turned his three year $24 million deal into a five year deal worth $58 million.  He won 11 games, saw his ERA rise almost a run and lead the league in homers allowed with 29.

This year has been even worse for Hughes, as he’s 1-7 with a 5.74 ERA. He’s given up 64 hits in just 50 innings pitched. With Kyle Gibson set to come off the DL, a rotation spot needed to be opened up. It turns out, they decided that spot would be for Hughes.

Coming out of the bullpen isn’t something new for Hughes. Back in 2009, Hughes was removed from the Yankees rotation and became a setup man for Mariano Rivera. He was as important as anyone on that team, going 5-1 with a 1.40 ERA and striking out 65 in 51.1 innings.

Hughes threw a harder fastball in that 2014 season. Per Fangraphs, he averaged 93.8 on his fastball that year. This year? He’s at just 90.5 which is two MPH lower than two years ago. The usage of his pitches other than his four-seam fastball is up over the past two years, while the fastball usage is down almost 20 percent.

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Maybe this move to the pen will help him re-discover his fastball and eventually get him back into the Twins rotation.