Another Orange County boy has made it to the big leagues. Just 10 years ago this 17-year old kid was walking from Pre-Calculus to English 4 at Foothill High School in Santa Ana. in December of last year he signed a $24 million contract over three years with the Minnesota Twins. He was born in Mission Viejo, 20 miles south of the High School that made him what he is today, an All-Star major league starting pitcher. Hughes had a 12-0 record with a 0.78 ERA his junior year and a 9-1 record with a 0.69 ERA his senior year while throwing one perfect game in that year.
Hughes planned on attending Santa Clara University after his senior year of high school but was drafted in the first round by the New York Yankees and earned a signing bonus of $1 million dollars as an 18-year old. In 2006, Hughes got his first start with Double-A Trenton and in November was labeled arguably the best pitching prospect in the nation and in 2007 became the second youngest player in the MLB, replacing Roger Clemens on the Yankee roster. He struggled in his rookie year but found his stride in '08-10 becoming a staple in the Yankee starting rotation and winning a World Series Ring in '09 despite his 16.20 ERA in the series as a reliever. In 2010, Hughes won all 5 of his first decisions of the year, leading to an All-Star selection that year. Plagues by injuries such as shoulder inflammation and a bulging disc in his back, Hughes was forced on the DL to start the 2011 season and hasn't been the same since. Although he just signed a big contract with the Twins, Hughes has the 3rd highest ERA of any pitcher in Yankee history who has thrown at least 500 innings. Regardless of his up and down career in the bigs, we love this local kid and support him 100%. Go Twins!
PITCHING FEATURES:
91-95 MPH 4-Seam Fastball
87-90 MPH 2-Seam Fastball
73-77 MPH Spike Curveball
Mid-80's Vulcan Change-up (Vs. left-handed hitters)
Low-80's Slider (Vs. right-handed hitters)
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