Hughes v. Bailey

Written by Greg Fertel | 16 January 2007

Hughes, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound native of Santa Ana, Calif., has separated himself from Homer Bailey. While his repertoire on the hill is not that of Bailey’s, Hughes has no problem showing off something that Bailey does not have: impeccable control. Last season, Bailey posted the greatest control numbers of his career with WHIP numbers of 1.00 and 1.15 at High-A and Double-A respectively. If Hughes had put up similar statistics, it would have been the worst year of his minor league career. Hughes has never posted a WHIP over 0.91, which came in 21 starts last year at Double-A Trenton against tough competition in the Eastern League. Over the course of the 237.1 innings pitched in his minor league career, Hughes has done it all: 21-7 record, 2.13 ERA, amazing 269:54 K to BB clip, and of course, the microscopic WHIP of 0.86. No one in their right mind will ever question Bailey’s talents, but you can see without too much analysis that he has walked twice as many batters per nine innings (4.07 to 2.05) as Hughes throughout their respective developments. If Homer Bailey continues to develop the way everyone expects him to, he will grasp the control needed to become a pitcher of, let’s say, Philip Hughes caliber. But Hughes isn’t done developing either. Anyone else scared to see what this guy could do? These two are both amazing young arms who any club in the big leagues would fall head over heals for, but if you really want to single out the best, look no further than Hughes. While he may not have the pure electric stuff of Homer Bailey on the hill, Philip Hughes and his impeccable control and poise at such a young age make this polished star the best young arm in the minor leagues. Am I the only one that think Hughes could at the very least match whatever performance put forth by Pavano/Rasner/Karstens from the 5th start spot?