With the addition of Pettitte to the rotation the speculation begins whether Hughes will stay in AAA or jump back into the starting rotation and Joba opening in the bullpen again. The belief of many fans is that Joba will be the fourth man in the rotation with Pettitte rounding it off.

There still is a slight chance, however, that Phillip Hughes beats out Joba in spring training and gets into the starting rotation. With the Yankees luck with starting pitchers over the last couple of seasons there is no doubt in my mind that at least one of the starters will go down to injury for a certain amount of time. So even if Hughes doesn’t start off in the rotation there is a very good chance that he is inserted for the first pitcher to fall.

I think I speak for all Yankees fans when I say I want to see Hughes in the majors again this season because he has some nice stuff and can be a dominant pitcher in this league. Only time will tell though how long Hughes has to wait in the wings again, but don’t expect it to be long.