Dibs on Phil Hughes last night v Detroit

Dibs' points:

• Does not blame Brian Cashman, says Phil Hughes himself has not stepped up, has not shown he can face major league teams. Perhaps evaluators made mistakes.

Does not blame the rookie catcher. Says the team made a mistake giving Hughes a rookie catcher last night anyway. Hughes made the Tigers feel tremendous every time he made Stewart run out there, that Hughes did the same thing in Boston with Molina. (I understand it happened with Ohlendorf as well, but Hughes has done it way too much). Says it's unprofessional, should never happen, the catcher even had white out on his fingers to help the pitcher out.

• That the manager and coaches should have worked all this stuff out before the players took the field. Also, was surprised they gave a young kid like Melky the night off this early in the season (although he got a late at bat) leaving the team more exposed to Damon's fielding.

He says if a pitcher can't see the catcher's signs, go to a different system, such as tapping the knee, putting your glove up in the air a certain way, etc. Even if Hughes has perfect eyesight, for some reason he can't see the signs which should have been addressed.

• ***A blind person called in on the discussion, said he listens to play-by-play on radio because radio has to call balls and strikes, tv guys ramble on and don't always do that. The YES Network's on-air guys last night were Kay, Leiter, and Flaherty. Flaherty is good in some ways but Leiter is a big disappointment and makes it unwatchable. (sm)

P.S. Don't forget, if Phil Hughes had been traded, MELKY would've been gone too. Right now he's the Yankees only bright spot. (sm)

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