Late this afternoon, GM Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi finally made the move to swap Chien-Ming Wang to the rotation and Phil Hughes to the bullpen. Wang will start tomorrow’s game against the Rangers, pushing CC Sabathia to Friday. Hughes will not be available out of the pen until Friday.
Via Marc Craig of the NJ Star-Ledger, Wang and Hughes reacted to the change:
Wang: "I'm happy to be back as a starter, " Wang said. "I'm 100 percent back."
Hughes: "I knew something had to give eventually with the way Wang has been pitching out of the bullpen," Hughes said. "He looks like he's back to his normal self. So that left me as the odd man out. I'll do whatever the team needs and right now, that's being in the bullpen."
I really do trust that Wang is 100 percent. I was able to watch him pitch in his last outing, and his sinker had a lot of bite – just like the good ‘ole days.
From PeteAbe:
Hughes is a temporary bullpen fix, Girardi said. He’ll be a starter long term.
This is good news all around. I think it’s the right move to make at this time.
