Phil Hughes does what he's supposed to...

(Extreme hat-tip to Mike Ashmore, who live-tweeted and posted video from each Phil Hughes at-bat.)

So Phil Hughes took the hitters from the NH Fisher Cats to school....6.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8K in 88 pitches.  He sat low-90's for the whole start and was touching mid-90's.  He attacked the plate and got a bunch of quick outs, keeping the Blue Jays' AA affiliate at bay for the majority of the game.

By my reckoning Hughes looked much better on the mound than he did to begin the year.  He appeared much looser on the mound and a helluva lot more relaxed.  At the start of this year it looked like Hughes didn't have the confidence in his fastball (borne out by his DL stint and rehab) and he could not pitch around that.

(No, I'm not saying Hughes should try to pitch through injury...simply pointing out that his secondary stuff wasn't terribly sharp either.)

Anyway, this start looked much better than any start he made in the majors this season.  He's got that swagger back...like he knows he's getting you out.

He'll likely have one more rehab start to bulk up his workload - I imagine that'll be in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and will occur on July 4th.  Assuming all goes well, the Yankees have a pretty easy decision to make either just before or just after the All-Star break.  It looks like Hughes could start just before the All-Star break on July 9th against Tampa Bay to keep him on rotation, but that projects to be Burnett's regular turn (and he's not pitching terribly).  More likely I see Hughes staying in Scranton until after the MLB break, with Brian Gordon getting one more start with the Yankees before the break before they are forced to make a roster move.

I'm hoping Gordon will accept an assignment to Scranton.  He'd be wonderful to have as depth in the minors in case Garcia falters or Colon doesn't come back right away.  Nova needs to stay in the rotation because it looks like he has nothing left to learn at the AAA level...his best education will be facing the lineups of the AL East and the rest of the league once every five days.

After the break the Yankees rotation should look like CC, AJ, Hughes, Nova, Garcia with Colon on the way.  This is not a bad rotation - it has questions but there's no rotation in the majors that doesn't, even the Phillies.  With the lineup starting to get warm and the bullpen turning into something that can be trusted, I've got a feeling this season will turn into something a bit more special that the standard Yankee playoff appearance.

Jim Riggleman, (Permanent) Former MLB Manager

So Jim Riggleman resigned as manager of the Nationals today after the team's 11th win in 12 days.  In a nutshell, Riggleman demanded that GM Mike Rizzo pick up his option for next year and Rizzo called his bluff.  Riggleman said he needed "a longer leash" and wasn't as free to make decisions because of his tenuous contract situation, fearing any "out of the box" thinking would be an easy way to get himself fired.  (Hmm, seems like he found an easier way)

There's obviously more going on than a simple contract demand from a manager that's had three winning seasons among the nine full seasons he's managed.  Riggleman has probably been bugging Rizzo about this option since spring training and Rizzo (rightly, in my eyes) decided he had no reason to rush into paying his manager for next season.  It's not like Riggleman was some sort of managerial guru that reinvented the baseball wheel while simultaneously convincing his bosses that he is indeed a good manager.  As Mike Vaccaro mentioned, he'd have to go ONE FULL SEASON OVER .500 in order to get back to .500 as a manager.

So Riggleman played his hand wrong and lost.  He says he felt disrespected when what he did was disrespect his organization by making a contract demand in-season.  This is a Nationals team with many young players that would have gotten the idea that "Hey, our manager threw a hissy fit and got paid, why can't we?"  Rizzo was backed into a corner - placate his manager and weaken his authority regarding the team, or call Riggleman's bluff and deal with the consequences.  Rizzo would have been seen as a weak-kneed GM if he allowed Riggleman to dictate when the team would pick up his option, so he chose to protect his authority.

I can't see any team hiring Jim Riggleman anymore...he just walked out on his team because he wanted his money guaranteed.  Now a team couldn't hire him if they wanted to because a) they'd be condoning throwing a tantrum when you don't like your contract situation, and b) if Riggleman isn't happy with his "job security" he could walk out at anytime.  Perception has a tendency to be reality, and Riggleman has given the baseball world the perception that he is a potential malcontent with no redeeming qualities as a manager besides.  Maybe he can find a college somewhere, but an MLB team should be wary to hire Mr. Riggleman.

Pleas to the silent

This is gonna sound like begging...because it is.  I'm sure there's at least five people out there reading my drivel - yet no comments, followers or anything.

I crave feedback!  As long as it's not mean-spirited or useless please feel free to tell me what I might be doing wrong or right.  I want nothing more than to have friendly dialogue with whatever readers I may have.

Also, if you haven't noticed I'm not a blind-to-the-world, Sterling-esque Yankee fan.  If you want that, there's places for the on the interwebs.  You won't find it here.

Bryce Harper, future HBP victim

Bryce Harper, he of the eye black and massive bat, avoided a big bruise after an incident while playing for Washington's Single-A affiliate in Hagerstown, MD.  Basically, Harper stood and watched his big fly for a few seconds - much more than baseball protocol allows - and then trotted his way around the basepaths.  The pitcher for Greensboro said some things to Harper, and Harper blew him a kiss at the end of his home run trot.  The next at bat, he got a pitch up and in from a different Greensboro pitcher in obvious retaliation.

Young Bryce is lucky - had this happened higher up in the minors, and definitely on the major league level, either he or one of his teammates would have taken a fastball to the rear or the back and no one would have batted an eyelash one way or the other.  Baseball has a funny way of policing itself - rules about HBP's or not - especially when you see your division rivals 18 times a season.  If he had done that with Roy Halladay on the mound, it's safe to say he'd be sporting a baseball-sized bruise as a reminder to not show up your competition in that way..

That all being said, Harper has been called out for his immaturity and it has been said this incident could hold him back in the minors.  That's purely a bunch of junk - he's 18 years old for crying out loud!  The purpose of the minors for Harper is to learn how to be a professional baseball player so when he comes up to Washington he doesn't pull this kind of crap again.  The team used it as a learning experience - the manager of Hagerstown should be commended for using what could have been a total negative and teaching these kids baseball as it should be played on the field.

I imagine that Harper will learn his lesson the hard way - since he didn't feel the full consequences of his actions on the field, he'll probably do it again and get a slightly more painful result.  But that's OK...I can't remember too many 18-year olds that were fully mature adults and starting their professional career.  What he has to do is keep working hard and keep stuff like this to a minimum lest he get a reputation as disrespectful, which will grate on his teammates as well as his opponents.