JARED HUGHES

7/4/85; '06 4th; Long Beach State Univ.
R/R; 6-7, 235

Level
W-L-Sv
G
GS
IP
H
 HR
BB
K
 BB/9
K/9
WHIP
OAVG
ERA
2004 NCAA
0-1-0
6
6
20.2
21
 0
13
12
 5.7
5.2
1.65
 
4.79
2005 NCAA
8-3-0
15
14
89.0
67
 3
23
87
 2.3
8.8
1.01
 
2.83
2006 NCAA
8-4-0
15
15
108.0
97
 3
33
77
 2.8
6.4
1.20
.237
3.67
2006 A
5-4-0
10
10
48.1
46
 6
31
25
 5.8
4.7
1.59
.250
5.77
2006 A-
1-2-0
5
5
23.0
14
 2
7
11
 2.7
4.3
0.91
.179
2.74
2007 A
8-9-0
27
27
145.1
162
 11
54
109
 3.3
6.8
1.49
.281
4.64
2008 AA
2-2-0
6
6
31.0
35
4
16
18
4.7
5.2
1.65
.278
4.94
2008 A+
3-9-0
21
21
105.2
108
7
50
54
4.3
4.6
1.50
.269
4.60
2009 AA
1-6-3
17
7
46.1
55
1
16
36
3.1
7.0
1.53
.296
3.88
2009 R
0-0-0
3
3
6.0
3
0
1
5
1.5
7.5
0.67
.158
1.50

Hughes was considered one of the top prospects in the country as a HS junior, but his stock fell badly with a mediocre senior season. He went to Santa Clara, but struggled and, in the wake of coaching changes, transferred to Long Beach State, where he was the #1 starter in 2006. He was not overpowering in college, as the mediocre K rate shows, and mostly relied on getting ground balls. He throws four pitches that Baseball America described as average or a little below, including a low-90s fastball and a slider. Hughes fit the Pirates' fascination under Dave Littlefield with groundball finesse pitchers who nibble around the strike zone, allow large numbers of baserunners, and don't strike out many hitters. They had little success with such pitchers in the majors, but that never seemed to faze them.

Hughes signed shortly after the draft and has performed true to his profile. He was effective in 2006 at Williamsport, not allowing many hits but sporting a low K rate. At Hickory, he struggled badly with his control, walking more than he fanned. At both stops he was an extreme groundball pitcher (ground out to fly out ratio of 4.09 at Williamsport, 3.07 at Hickory). Just the same, he allowed HRs with an above-average frequency at Hickory and LH batters slugged over .500 against him there. He returned to Hickory in 2007 and spent the whole season there, which by itself is a bad sign for an early round draft pick out of a major four-year program. He continued to sport a below-average K rate, allow a lot of baserunners, and get a lot of groundballs, although at only a 1.65 ratio. He did not improve over the course of the season. Just the opposite: his ERA was 3.20 in the first half and 6.00 in the second.

Hughes opened 2008 at Lynchburg and continued mostly along the same lines. He didn't give up quite as many hits, but he increasingly struggled with walks due to his tendency to nibble. His BB/K ratio went from fairly good to poor. He did get more groundballs, with a 2.47 ratio at Lynchburg. In a late season promotion to Altoona he pitched the same as at Lynchburg. He had a huge platoon split at both stops, although one-year splits can be misleading. He had only a modest split in 2007.  He opened 2009 in the Altoona rotation and actually started to show considerable progress through seven starts.  Unfortunately, he went out in mid-May with shoulder problems and didn't return until early August.  He pitched solely in relief after returning and struggled.  In fact, it makes sense to divide his season into the seven early starts and ten late relief appearances, because the differences are so dramatic:

 
IP
BB/9
K/9
GO/AO
OAVG
ERA
Starting
28.1
3.2
6.0
1.67
.245
1.91
Relieving
18.0
3.0
8.5
1.27
.363
7.00

The ERA as a starter is a little misleading because eight of the fourteen runs he allowed were unearned.  Hughes will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this fall, but he's unlikely to get selected.  The Pirates will probably try him again in the Altoona rotation in 2010, unless he gets crowded out by prospects coming up from Lynchburg.

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