Phil Hughes was handed a 14-2 lead last night and couldn’t make it out of the fifth. Nothing would frustrate me more as a manager than watching a starter unable to navigate a ballgame that could be done by a pitching machine. His velocity topped out at 90 mph (a couple of miles below last year) and he admitted that he couldn’t command his pitches. Was it the 100 degree heat? Was it the fact he was given a 12 run lead? Sometimes pitchers lose concentration in a blowout. Whatever the case, it’s a problem.

We are now nine days away from the trade deadline. It appears a top of the rotation starter is not an option. Names like Ryan Dempster, Edwin Jackson, Hiroki Kuroda, and Wandy Rodriguez will pop up more than Ubaldo Jimenez or Francisco Liriano.

We have been telling you the Yankees have been scouting the Cubs for weeks. Are any of the above better than Ivan Nova? Maybe Kuroda. Nova is currently on the MILB DL, but should be able to return by Saturday when he is schedule to start one of the games of the doubleheader against Baltimore. I think the Yankees could wait another two weeks and see what they have. Pitchers will sneak through in August since teams don’t want to get stuck with the money. If the Red Sox are ahead of them they can’t impact waivers. Acquiring a pitcher is more a “playoff move” than “making the playoffs” type of move. The Yankees are already in the playoffs.

Perhaps 2011 is not going to happen for Hughes. Maybe it’s time to call up Nova and slide him into the rotation, and put Hughes back in the bullpen. Maybe putting him in that role the rest of this season will be what’s best for the team, and get Phil Hughes back on track for 2012.

It also won’t cost Brian Cashman any prospects for C+ level rotation help.

***

The gang is all back as David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran appeared on the field together for the first time in two months. It won’t last long, as Beltran will probably be gone by the middle of next week. In the 1999 Kevin Costner film “For the Love of the Game” Costner’s character, Tigers pitcher Billy Chapel, spent a memorable day on the Yankee Stadium mound. He was a Hall of Famer at the end of his career looking for one last day of glory. Vin Scully said he would “use that aching old arm one more time to push the sun back up in the sky and give us one more day of summer.”

Maybe Wright, Reyes, and Beltran can give us a few more glimpses of 2006 before it’s all said and done. It won’t matter when it comes to the standings, but that season was truly a memorable one for Mets fans. Personally, it was the most fun I had watching this team in a long time. How will the legacy of this group go down in Mets history? Probably as a disappointment, which is unfair.

What should be noted is the Mets had the best offensive core in team history when you factor in Carlos Delgado. The failure of the GM to bring in decent component parts is where they went wrong. If players like R.A. Dickey, Pedro Beato, Jason Isringhausen, Chris Capuano, and a mature Daniel Murphy were available the 2007 and 2008 seasons would have resulted in playoff appearances. Instead, it cost three men their job and made the team the butt of many league jokes. The trio deserved better. Beltran probably won’t get the redemption he deserves, Reyes might, and Wright most certainly will have the opportunity.

For now, let’s “push the summer sun back into the sky” and remember 2006 for however long it lasts.

***

You saw the best and worst of David Wright last night. I was encouraged by his ability to go the opposite way and drive in two key runs with a double. The hits in the first and eighth inning were vintage Wright and what made him one of the best third basmen in the history of the sport. If he continues last night’s approach, I suspect we will see more of the old David Wright, then the version that’s been around the last three years.

What I didn’t like was his continued regression on defense. For all the criticism of Daniel Murphy’s glove he played a decent third base (outside of that night in Pittsburgh), and I have no issue with his throws. Wright’s throws continue to be an adventure and nearly cost them last night’s game.

Defensive statistics are hard to discuss since it’s prone to small sample sizes and many don’t truly grasp the formula behind it. Wright never deserved the Gold Glove’s he won in 2007 and 2008, but defensively Fangraphs has his UZR going from above league average to significantly below the last four years. Is Wright’s future at a position other than third? This was something discussed a few years back when the belief was he could move to first after Carlos Delgado’s contract is up. With Ike Davis on the roster I am not sure that’s still an option.

Offensively Wright should be fine, but his defense last night late in the game was not acceptable. That has to change or perhaps it’s time to think about what to do with him next.

***

Apparently Ruben Sierra was in the Yankees clubhouse last night doing an imitation of Joe Torre going out to the mound to take out a pitcher.

Tony LaRussa called Sierra the “village idiot” when he was in Oakland, and Torre said he was one of the most “difficult players to manage” when he took over in 1996. Ironically, Sierra matured – probably after spending some time in the minors in the late nineties- and wound up returning to the Bronx in 2003 and contributing to that pennant winning team.

***

Is the Designated Hitter position a skill? Should I even call it a position? I ask this because of an excerpt of an interesting column by Jonah Keri at Grantland, which discusses the struggles of Adam Dunn this year. He believes that perhaps the transition from the National League to the American League, specifically taking on the DH role, might be playing a part:

One possible explanation, beyond age, bad luck, or the aforementioned Wicca curse, is his new role. A career National Leaguer, Dunn is a designated hitter for the first time this year. Hitters tend to struggle when they start DHing. There are a couple of possible reasons for this drop. Players often become DHs as they get older and their skills start to slip. It might also be linked to what’s called the “pinch-hitter penalty.” Pinch-hitters see a 10 percent dip in effectiveness, which makes sense given how hard it is to come off the bench cold. DHs might then suffer from the same inability to stay warm and focused, given they don’t play the field.

David Oritz is a player that comes to mind that’s made a career of being an effective DH. Frank Thomas and Edgar Martinez  might go into the Hall of Fame one day as a designated hitters.

According to Baseball-Reference there are only 8 players in the history of baseball that have played over 1,000 games and half have been as the DH:

That is very select company in terms of production and longevity. We forget how difficult it is for some players to pinch hit. Carlos Beltran recently said he was hesitant to accept a trade to an American League team that wants to DH him a majority of the time.

A combination of staying warm and ability to prepare mentally to hit might make an effective DH the hardest job in all of baseball.

Out of that group only Travis Hafner and Ortiz have played 75% of their career games at the Designated Hitter position.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: Adam Dunn, Billy Chapel, Carlos Beltran, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Daniel Murphy, David Oritz, David Wright, Detroit Tigers, Edgar Martinez, For the Love of the Game, Frank Thomas, Ivan Nova, Joe Torre, Jose Reyes, Kevin Costner, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Phil Hughes, Ruben Sierra, Seattle Mariners, Travis Hafner