ESPN.com: A Look at Hughes' Return

Zack Singer of ESPN's Stats & Info team provides an interesting look at Phil Hughes' return and the impact of his fastball.

After a nearly three-month quest, Hughes has regained most of the velocity he lost. In seven starts since returning to the Yankees, Hughes’ fastball velocity has averaged 91.5 mph, with an even higher average velocity in his past three starts. Overall, Hughes’ fastball velocity is up nearly three mph from where it was prior to his trip to the DL. 

Visit ESPN.com Stats & Info Blog for more...

ESPN Covers Josh Johnson

ESPN examines Josh Johnson and his breaking ball:

Watch Baseball Tonight any time Johnson pitches and you'll hear our announcers marvel at that pitch location. Those pitches are almost impossible and the numbers bear it out. 

Righties and lefties have made 68 outs in at-bats that ended with a Johnson breaking pitch, and gotten just four base hits. 

Hitters are missing on 40 percent of their swings against that pitch, a rate that puts Johnson among the best major league starters. They're also chasing pitches at a similar rate. 

Read More... (source: ESPN, Mark Simon)

David Wright vs. Righties (ESPN.com)

Mark Simon (ESPN.com) takes a close look at David Wright's issues vs. Righties...

...Wright's ability to hit line drives against right-handed pitchers has gone down by a considerable amount, according to our pitching/hitting evaluation tools. 

From the start of 2009, to the end of July, 2010, Wright averaged a line drive for every four balls with which he makes contact (again, including homers) against right-handed pitching. 

Since then, he's averaging a line drive every six balls times he made contact against righties.  

Click here for the complete story.