Twins pitcher Phil Hughes walks his first batter since April 20
By Dan Zinski
Phil Hughes always had pretty good control, but the run he was on in 2014 was ridiculous. On April 20, the Twins starter issued his sixth walk of the young season, and he would go 178 batters before issuing another one.
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The walkless streak finally came to an end on Sunday when Hughes issued a base-on-balls to Brian McCann of the Yankees. The 178 straight batters faced without a walk places Hughes second on the Twins’ all-time list in that category behind the legendary Brad Radke.
Hughes came to the Twins looking to resurrect his once-promising career, and so far the effort has been successful. Going into Sunday’s game Hughes was 5-1 on the year with a 3.23 ERA and a 1.190 WHIP. Quite a turnaround from 2013 when, as a member of the Yankees, he went 4-14 with a dismal 5.19 ERA.
If Hughes can keep pitching like he has been pitching, he will go down as one of the best free agent acquisitions in the major leagues this year. He has Maddux-like control right now. The Yankees are probably wishing they’d kept him around with all the injuries they’ve faced this year.
Tough luck for them.
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