(UPDATE) Yankees’ Hughes to miss time with back injury
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UPDATE: (Feb. 20, 11 a.m.)
The Yankees have amended their news yesterday that Phil Hughes would miss a couple days with upper back stiffness. And it’s not for the better.
General manager Brian Cashman said Wednesday morning that Hughes has been diagnosed with a bulging disc in his upper back and will be shut down for as much as two weeks. He will be given anti-inflammatories and the team will reassess the injury after about a week.
“Just with how I’ve been progressing the last couple of days, I feel like I’ll get through these anti-inflammatories and I’ll be symptom free in the next four or five days and we’ll get going from there,” Hughes told reporters in camp Wednesday morning.
Hughes did not seem concerned, though Cashman indicated the Yankees would be conservative with the injury.
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One day after the Mets suffered their first injury of the spring the Yankees announced starter Phil Hughes will be put on the shelf for two days with back stiffness suffered in a fielding drill.
“There’s always a little bit of concern, but it’s in his upper back, not his lower back,” manager Joe Girardi told reporters in camp.
Hughes, 26, suffered the injury while running to cover first base as the Yankees’ begin fielding drills for their pitching staff.
Hughes struggled in 2011 after winning 18 games in 2010, but rebounded to have a solid season in 2012. He finished the year 16-13 with a 4.29 ERA in 191 1/3 innings. Those 191 1/3 innings are the highest of his career, but the team has no reason to believe the work is related to his back injury. He is expected to be the No. 4 starter this season, slotting in behind CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Andy Pettitte.
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