SPECULATOR: The next Phil Hughes
Mar 14 2015
Two weeks ago, Brent Hershey filled in as our pinch-hit Speculator columnist, and did a great job of conducting a search for the next Michael Brantley. For our follow-up pitching exercise, we resisted the urge to use AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber as our subject: Kluber was a premium, known breakout candidate entering 2014, the only surprise there was the degree of his breakout.
Looking for a more interesting breakout profile, we settled on Phil Hughes. As a reminder, Hughes, a one-time top prospect who had not yet achieved consistent success in the majors, finally broke out in 2015 with a 3.52 ERA (his first sub-4.00 season as an SP) and an MLB-record 11.6 Cmd ratio in his age-28 season.
With Hughes as our template, our breakout...
Almost!
You’re just a few clicks away from accessing this feature and hundreds more throughout the year that have a singular goal in mind: Winning your league. Subscribe to BaseballHQ.com here!
Already a subscriber? Sign in here
More From Speculator
We continue the rookie class check-in outside the Top 25 in this year's HQ100.
Jul 29 2026 3:09am
Jul 29 2026 3:09am
We check in on the Top 25 preseason prospects who have made their MLB debut so far, and speculate on their outlooks moving forward.
Jul 22 2026 3:06am
Jul 22 2026 3:06am
How much can we trust certain pitchers entering uncharted workload territory in the second half?
Jul 15 2026 3:07am
Jul 15 2026 3:07am
Aroldis Chapman is likely on the move, but instead of speculating on where he might go, we'll dive into potential fill-ins.
Jul 8 2026 3:07am
Jul 8 2026 3:07am
A retrospective look at first-half all-stars taken late in drafts, including CHW duo Miguel Vargas and Sam Antonacci.
Jul 1 2026 3:06am
Jul 1 2026 3:06am
