Phil Hughes just can’t stay healthy
By Tyler Haag
Phil Hughes to the DL is something we have heard before, what does it mean for this squad, this season?
According to multiple sources, Phil Hughes has a mild left oblique strain and will open the 2018 season on the DL, but what does that mean for Minnesota and their bullpen in the short term?
Hughes has been hurt a lot for the Twins over the past few years and although he was going to be the Twins fifth starter/long reliever, this shouldn’t destroy the bullpen. Due to the Twins schedule, they will be going with a four man rotation for the first stretch of the season and barring a rash of bad starts, there is a good chance Hughes wouldn’t have gotten a ton of innings in this stretch anyway. With Hughes out, it now leaves the door open for Gabriel Moya or Tyler Kinley to stake their claim to a Major League spot.
Hughes has been a disappointment for the Twins, mostly due to injuries. The 31 year old pitcher has not pitched more than 59 innings in a season since 2015 and hasn’t recorded an ERA lower than 4.40 since 2014 and his best years as a big leaguer were 5-8 years ago, before the Twins had acquired him.
Hughes can help this bullpen if he can stay healthy and it sounded like the Twins were optimistic about his health going into spring training. Hopefully this is just a small bump in the road and Hughes can come back and be productive for this ball club when they will be needing him the most a little bit later in the season.