Yankee Starter AJ Burnett's Poor Performance Shifts Pressure to Phil Hughes

At this point, the Yankees and their fans know a few things about the upcoming postseason. One of them being that C.C. Sabathia is going to be the No. 1 starter and designated "ace." Another is that if AJ Burnett appears in a game, that game is probably a blowout in one direction or the other. 

Unfortunately, the playoffs will require the Yankees to start pitchers not named Sabathia. It's been a very interesting season for the Yankees from a pitching perspective. The MVP-caliber season put together by Curtis Granderson has been a major surprise, but the real key to the season hasn't been Granderson. No, it's been the performances by starters Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and rookie Ivan Nova. 

Yet when the playoffs start, those guys won't be the key to determining whether or not the 2011 Yankees win the 28th World Series in Yankee history or go home, potentially in the first round. The man that may hold the key to the Yankees destiny is named Phil Hughes, and that may or may not be comforting to Yankee fans.

Phil Hughes is the best Yankee pitching prospect to reach the majors since Andy Pettitte. If that seems like a long gap it's because it is. Pettitte, who made his major league debut in 1995, played all but three of his 16 major league seasons in New York. He was a key component of every Yankee title won since the 1978 World Series. In general, he's been surrounded not by teammates from his minor league days, but by big-name free agents and high-profile trade acquisitions. Names like Roger Clemens, David Wells, David Cone, Jack McDowell, AJ Burnett, C.C. Sabathia, Dwight Gooden and Orlando " El Duque" Hernandez have all won rings alongside Petite.

In fact, while there's no question that the Yankees are the dominant team in baseball in the post-strike era ( 1994-present), if one had to pinpoint an organizational weakness, "producing starting pitchers" would be at the top of a fairly short list.

Phil Hughes is supposed to be the man who will start to change that. A first-round pick in the 2004 draft, Hughes progressed through the minors with relative ease. He reached the majors at the age of just 20 in 2007. His 2007 was impressive, and he was actually in the midst of a potential no-hitter on May 1st when he pulled a hamstring and had to be removed from his start. The injury would cost Hughes most of 2007, and he also suffered through an injury-riddled 2008 as well.

Hughes would bounce back to play a key role out of the bullpen during the 2009 season, one which would eventually result in a Yankee World Series title. 2010 brought Hughes back to the starting rotation and he enjoyed a very good season. As the 2011 season approached, Hughes was poised to play a key role in a Yankee rotation that had numerous question marks.

Instead, more injury woes have plagued Hughes, and now with September rapidly approaching, Hughes is poised to make just his 12th start of the season. Hughes has also suffered from terrible inconsistency this year. Two good starts can easily be followed by two terrible ones. Nonetheless, he remains a pitcher with a very high ceiling. He is still just 25 and at 6'5", 240 pounds, possesses an ideal physical build to be a solid starter.

Yankee fans are going to need that to happen sooner than later. Even the most optimistic Yankee fans would probably admit that the prospect of starting Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia in the postseason is unnerving. Ivan Nova has been much better than expected as a rookie this season, but his propensity for allowing lots of base runners could be a major problem against the offenses of teams such as the Rangers, Tigers or Red Sox. If Phil Hughes can figure out a way to return to the form of his first half in 2010 when he was 11-2 with a 3.65 earned run average, then this Yankee postseason has a legitimate chance to end with a ticker-tape parade. If not, then there's likely to be a parade—but not in New York City.