Phil Hughes (SP, MIN) - Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: Filth Hughes is back!  Well, with the exception of one solid season in New York, he was barely ever "here" to begin with. Instead of saying he's back, we'll just say he has finally, after long last, arrived and found himself.  Hughes, a flyball pitcher who never had hope of surviving in homer haven Yankee Stadium, now finds himself the beneficiary of huge Target Field in Minnesota.  Over his last six starts, Hughes is 5-0, with a 1.6 ERA, 30/1 K/BB ratio, with an amazing .331 Slugging % against.  He is putting up Cliff Lee like numbers in the K/BB columns. What's the key to Hughes' success? He's challenging hitters and pounding the zone, something he was afraid to do in New York for fear of giving up homers.  Because he's throwing a lot more strikes, he's also inducing a lot more swings at bad pitches outside of the zone which lead to weak contact and flyball outs.  Hughes BABIP is .328 which should drop 10-15 points and help him cut his hit-rate a little bit as well.  All in all, Hughes is looking like an elite control pitcher who's able to challenge hitters and benefit from his fly ball tendencies in a huge ball park.  He's in the type of ball park he should have been his whole career.  Miscast no more, Hughes is worthy of a pickup in all leagues.