Minnesota Twins: 5 lineup adjustments the team should make
Hughes to the bullpen
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Puckett's Pond
Phil Hughes only appeared in 14 games in 2017, so it wasn’t exactly a banner year for the Twins pitcher. He did make some appearances out of the bullpen, but he did start in nine of those 14 appearances. It is time to fully move Hughes to the bullpen.
Hughes has not pitched a full season of baseball since the 2015 season which followed his record breaking season in 2014 where he refused to give up walks. Hughes only allowed 16 walks in both of those seasons but has not looked that great since in his limited action in the past two seasons.
Moving Hughes to the bullpen could help out in multiple ways. First, a bullpen role might keep Hughes healthy. Second, moving Hughes to the bullpen would be a big boost to the Twins bullpen which is in desperate need of some big time boosting.
The Twins signed Hughes to a big extension after his great opening seasons with the team and now have him under contract through the 2019 season. A move to the bullpen could be a move that finds more value to a contract that was given out prematurely by the previous front office personnel.