Phil Hughes’ Fastball

Phil Hughes’ fastball looked good in his start last night, and, as we all know with Phil, locating with his fastball is key. Without that location, we’ve seen how bad it could get for him.

Here’s what he told the NY Post:

“I felt like my fastball command was better last time. But it was still around the plate enough, and I was able to put the ball where I wanted it enough to be successful,” Hughes said. ” Physically I felt great. That’s the biggest thing, and getting my pitch count up.”

Chad Jennings is also reporting that Phil Hughes has dropped his slider in favor of a cutter and used it a lot in last night’s start (along with his fastball that touched 95 mph). If Hughes can come back within another week or so, he would take Dan Giese’s spot in the rotation and if IPK can stay in the rotation, we’ll essentially have the starting 5 that we were supposed to have at the beginning of the season. Of course, Sidney Ponson will be around instead of CMW, but I guess Yankee fans can get used to Sidney, as it looks like he’s here to stay (unless Hughes and IPK are great and Joba can come back as a starter).