Spring Training

The Future Looks Like This:

The Yankees have their two top pitching prospects throwing alongside their rotation members. That's Humberto Sanchez on the left and Phil 'The Franchise' Hughes on the right. Pretty darn cool.

Hughes threw 34 pitches, and the hitters put two in play. Sánchez was a bit wild, but Jason Giambi guessed that he threw 96 miles an hour. Hughes and Sánchez are the cornerstones of the Yankees’ emphasis on young pitching.

“From the first day when we all walked in, it looked like a corral — just a bunch of horses,” the backup catcher Todd Pratt said. “I’d be pretty happy if I was Mr. Cashman.”

Brian Cashman, the general manager, has no plans to put Hughes or Sánchez in the majors out of camp. But Hughes, especially, drew raves. He might be the best pitching prospect in baseball.

“He’s the real deal,” Giambi said. “He’s unbelievable. Great composure, great tempo. We could have used him last year. You forget he’s, what, 20? He reminds me of a young Rocket.”

We're all trying not to shit ourselves waiting for the arrival of Hughes. It's pretty hard to curb your enthusiasm right now.

Sánchez is different. He is 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, and seems to come hurtling at the hitter. The Yankees acquired him during the off-season from Detroit in the Gary Sheffield trade.

“He’s huge,” Giambi said. “I don’t know how you let a guy like that go. I guess when you throw 96, it’s not enough to make that ballclub. In Detroit, every player throws 100.”

Sánchez said the Yankees were a better fit for him than the Tigers, who have a staff of young starters in their prime. It is also a natural fit, because Sánchez grew up in the South Bronx.

Born in the Dominican Republic, Sánchez moved to New York with his parents at age 10. In the Dominican, his mother worked at an airport and his father for a newspaper. In New York, his mother found work as a maid, and his father worked for a company that made brakes for trains.

This is the future: More Yankee dominance off the mound. Get used to it AL East!