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The Yankees will face 2012 NL Cy Young award winner and ex-Met R.A. Dickey on Sunday. Despite being just 2-3 with a 4.66 ERA, Dickey presents a unique challenge because of his knuckleball.

Joe Girardi thinks the most important aspects in approaching the knuckler is to look for the ball up and not try to do too much with it.

"I've heard people say, 'Down low, let it go. If it is high, let it fly,'" Girardi said. "The other thing is, I don't think you can go up there with a plan that, 'I'm going to look for one pitch, to pull the ball and hit in the seats.' I think you have to stay up the middle a little bit."

Not many Yankees have a lot of at-bats against Dickey. Vernon Wells has a .538 average (7-for-13), while Robinson Cano has three hits in 10 at-bats vs. the highly publicized pitcher.

HUGHES IMPROVING?: After missing so much time with his spring training bulging disk in his back, Phil Hughes has gotten better from his first start to his fourth. After going seven innings in his first two starts combined, Hughes has pitched seven innings in each of his last two starts, allowing just two runs in each.

Why?

"It could just be the innings under his belt," Girardi said. "I thought his last start he mixed his pitchers better than he had in the previous starts. Maybe he is getting more of a feel for his curveball, slider and changeup."

Hughes is on the mound Sunday for the Yankees.

On a mid-April Saturday afternoon, New York’s two baseball teams sent two first-round draft picks to the mound.

One almost made history. The other was booed off the field.

While the Mets’ Matt Harvey was working on a near no-hitter in Minnesota, the Yankees’ Phil Hughes was getting hammered in the Bronx. Hughes lasted just two batters into the fourth inning, giving up five runs in a 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

“He didn’t really have a good command of his fastball,” said manager Joe Girardi. “He made some mistakes with his fastball today, and they hit ‘em.”

Boy, did they ever. Nate McLouth lined Hughes’ second pitch of the game down the left-field line for a double, and came around to score. Ryan Flaherty launched a long fly ball into the right-field seats in the second inning, making it 2-0.

Hughes almost gave up two more homers in the second as well. J.J. Hardy’s drive to dead center died at the warning track, and Manny Machado’s blast hit off the top of the right-field wall.

But then Nick Markakis took Hughes deep in the third, and Nolan Reimold led off the fourth with another long ball. After McLouth followed that up with another double, Girardi sent Hughes to the showers.

“I have to be better,” Hughes said. “I have to locate my fastball, and be able to throw my offspeed pitches for strikes, and I wasn’t able to do either today.”

To his credit, Hughes made no excuses after the game. He missed time this spring with a back injury, and was pitching on irregular rest because of the team’s two rainouts in Cleveland this week, yet didn’t pin his poor performance on either issue.

But he didn’t have an explanation, either. “I wish I did,” Hughes said. “If I did, I probably wouldn’t let it happen.”

Hughes wasn’t good in his first start of the season either. Last Saturday in Detroit, he surrendered four runs on eight hits over four innings. He’s now 0-2, with a garish 10.29 earned run average.

The Yankees’ starting rotation, supposedly the strength of the team, suddenly doesn’t look so strong. Ivan Nova lasted just 4 2/3 innings in his one and only outing thus far, and Andy Pettitte had his next start pushed back due to back spasms.

CC Sabathia has looked very good. But truth be told, the best pitcher in New York right now is Harvey, the 24-year-old phenom who lost his no-no in the seventh inning, but still improved to 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA for the crosstown Mets.

Once upon a time, the same kind of greatness was expected of Hughes, who is just two years older. Although Hughes was drafted out of high school and has been in the big leagues since 2007, he hasn’t lived up to the hype.

Yes, he pitched 6 1/3 no-hit innings in his second big-league start, in Texas -- but then he had to leave the game with a hamstring injury. Yes, he won 18 games in 2010, and 16 in 2012. But his career record is 52-38 with a 4.44 ERA.

It’s fair to say more was expected of the 23rd overall pick in 2004.

This could be Hughes’ final year in pinstripes -- he will be a free agent at the end of this season. On the bright side, he has plenty of time to turn this year around, and Girardi said he’s not thinking of making any changes to his rotation.

“I think it’s real early to do that,” Girardi said. “Phil had a pretty good year for us. He’s had a couple pretty good years as a starter for us.”

Hughes was 1-3 with a 7.88 ERA in four starts last April, and recovered to finish 16-13 with a 4.23 ERA. “I went through it last year,” Hughes said, “so at least I know I can turn the page and figure it out.”

If he doesn’t, he’ll hear more boos in the Bronx.

“I’m used to it. Unfortunately,” Hughes said, of the boos. “I’ve kind of learned to deal with it.”

That’s not what Hughes, or the Yankees, were expecting nine years ago.

Phil Hughes has been in the majors long enough that he will be a free agent at the end of this season. He has been an All-Star, an 18-game winner and an enigma.

In June, he turns 27 and we still don't know exactly if this is all there is. Two scouts classified Hughes as a No. 3 or 4 starter. Sounds about right, but is there more?

"There is more in the tank," an AL East scout said. "The ability is there, but he has been a roller coaster."

Hughes, who starts Thursday against the Indians, is in his sixth full major league season and is coming off of a career-high 191 1/3 innings in 2012.

From team imposed limits to injuries, Hughes has thrown more than 100 innings in only three of his eight complete seasons in professional baseball.

"When he is good, he is really good," a second AL East scout said. "His health and command is always a question."

The scouts likened Hughes to Mike Pelfrey and Edwin Jackson. Those comparisons are far from insults, but they point to middle-of-the-rotation starters who profiled as potential aces. In 2007, Baseball America rated Hughes the fourth-best prospect in all of baseball and that has translated into a good, but not great, career so far.

This past offseason, the 29-year-old Jackson received a four-year, $52 million contract from the Chicago Cubs. Jackson and Hughes own an identical 4.41 career ERA. Since Jackson's ERA has been mostly against National League hitters, you could argue that Hughes' is slightly more impressive.

"He is a middle of the rotation guy, which you can be as a two-plus pitcher," the scout said. "He has command of his fastball and curveball."

Hughes possibly evolved to more than a two-pitch guy when he finished 16-13 with a 4.23 ERA in 2012. He ditched an over reliance on his cutter and went to a more fastball-curveball-change-slider repertoire.

Still with is injury history, which includes a bulging disk in his back that he said he will have to maintenance the rest of his career, it is hard to say what Hughes will be worth at the end of this season. One of the scouts said he would pass on him because Hughes, even with just a pretty good year, will probably be offered big money and the risk-reward scenario for the scout wouldn't be worth it.

"I wouldn't pay for it," the scout said. "He has stuff like Mike Pefrey. Pelfrey is a four. Hughes can't stay healthy long enough to quantify who he is. Plus, a back problem for a pitcher is really bad. But someone will overpay. People sell their souls for pitching."

With the $189 million mandate, Hughes is an interesting free agent question. The Yankees would love to see Hughes breakout this season and make the decision harder and more expensive.

UP NOW: The Yankees were rained out, but we weren't. There is plenty of stuff from Wednesday on the blog.

ON DECK: Mark Simon will go inside the numbers on the newest Yankees. Wally Matthews and I will be on the blog all day and night. Thanks for reading.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Can Phil Hughes get better?

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Yankees are on the road to Ft. Myers today, but a couple of them are headed elsewhere. Clay Rapada, who has been shut down with bursitis in his shoulder and only just started throwing again, is almost certainly headed to the disabled list. Phil Hughes probably is, too, backdated 10 days because he needs more work and the Yankees won't need him until April 6. That's the first day he would be eligible for reactivation.

And Travis Hafner, who has won the lefthanded DH job despite his .129 spring batting average, is headed over to the minor league complex to take as many at-bats as he wants in the Class A game today at 1:05 p.m.

Also: Derek Jeter will hit on the field at The Boss at 10:25 this morning, then take some infield practice to test out his sore ankle. If all goes well, he could play in a minor league game this weekend. A trip the DL to start the season is still not out of the question.

-- Phil Hughes will throw 45-50 pitches in a minor league game today. He, too, could start the season on the DL, backdated like Jeter to be eligible to play on April 6, the first time the Yankees will need a fifth starter. At the same time, Hiroki Kuroda will pitch in another minor league game, both at the same complex across the street from The Boss.

-- Joe Girardi said with the Jeter injury, there could be room for both Eduardo Nunez and Jayson Nix on his Opening Day roster. And for the first time, he acknowledged that Vidal Nuno, who has had an outstanding spring, might be considered for a role on the pitching staff, although he did not say what that role would be.

-- Robbie Cano went to Ft. Myers for the game against the Twins today, but he gets the day off tomorrow when the Yankees travel to Lakeland to play the Tigers. Hafner, Nix, Nunez, Brett Gardner, Kevin Youkilis, Brennan Boesch and Dan Johnson will make the trip, however. Andy Pettitte will make the start.

TAMPA, Fla. -- A little after 8:30 a.m. Monday, Phil Hughes threw 26 bullpen pitches, taking another stride toward being ready to to start the season on time.

"Today was a big step," said Hughes, sidelined since mid-February because of a bulging disk in his back. "The other day I was feeling my way through these 10 [pitches.] Today, it was like I was throwing a normal bullpen. I wasn't thinking about my back. I was letting it go. I got through that without any issues. For me, it was a big positive."

Hughes will throw a batting practice session Thursday and then he believes he could be ready to pitch a simulated game or in a spring game. Hughes doesn't know the exact dates he needs to start pitching in preseason games to be ready for the regular season.

With a Yankees having an off day in the first week, it is conceivable Joe Girardi could push Hughes' initial start of the season to as late as April 7. In that scenario, CC Sabathia would start twice before Hughes would go once.

"I assume by [pitching coach Larry Rothschild] telling me I have a BP Thursday, I would be on track to be ready to go," Hughes said.

DUNEDIN, Fla. – Some more positive injury news. Let's get to the notes.

1.) Boone Logan (elbow) threw a bullpen and reported no problems. Logan's condition would be important on its own, but is more vital with Clay Rapada (bursitis in his shoulder) down.

2.) CC Sabathia threw four simulated innings in Tampa and his elbow is right on target. He will start his first game Friday.

Joe Girardi has most of his starting pitching set for the week: Hiroki Kuroda on Monday, Ivan Nova on Tuesday, Andy Pettitte on Wednesday, TBA on Thursday and Sabathia on Friday. It will be the first game action for Pettitte, too.

Phil Hughes will have a bullpen on Monday. Girardi said that if Hughes doesn't get in a game by the 15th or 16th of this month, he still could be ready for his first regular season start of the season. Previously, Hughes had said he thought he needed to pitch by then to have a chance to make that start.

3.) Juan Rivera started at first on Saturday. He feels comfortable at the position.

"I first played it when I was 5," Rivera said.

TAMPA, Fla. -- It was only a game of catch, 25 easy throws from about 60 feet away, but for the first time in a week, Phil Hughes did his work outside of a pool and said he felt "no issues" from the bulging disk in his upper back that caused him to be shut down Feb. 18.

"That's a positive first step and we'll just have to go from here," said Hughes, who first felt the injury while reaching for a ball during a fielding dril. "First day, they didn't want me to go crazy, especially in the cold."

The next step is for Hughes to play catch again Monday, and the hope is that he will still have enough time left in the spring to be ready to head north with the team for Opening Day.

"Obviously I can't have any setbacks," he said. "I know that I have to get four or five starts, and every day that I'm not throwing or not on the mound is another day that it's harder to get going again. I just have to take it slow, but I figure that it's not the worst thing in the world to miss a little bit of time now than have this be an issue going forward."

It is possible that Hughes could remain in Tampa to make a minor league start while the rest of the team heads to New York, because the Yankees will not need a fifth starter until April 7 in Detroit.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Last day of workouts before the games begin and Joe Girardi seems happy about that. As he said today, "I've seen enough bullpens." Tomorrow, he gets to see the real thing. Here's the highlights of his post-workout session:

MO LOOKS "NORMAL": And that's good enough for Joe, who stood behind Mariano Rivera during his 20-pitch live BP session and came away impressed. He also got a kick out of Mo saying to Rob Segedin, the first hitter he faced, "You better swing because all you're going to see are strikes," after the kid let the first two pitches go by. And he cracked up when told that after Segedin lined the next pitch into center, Andy Pettitte cracked from the bench, "That'll shut him up." Joe thought Pettitte, who preceded Mo on the mound, looked good, too.

DON'T COUNT OUT JORGE: He was at least half-kidding, but Girardi refused to rule out the possibility that Jorge Posada, in camp for a few days as a guest instructor, could be seduced by the spring training atmosphere and decide to end his retirement. "I know there was a lefthanded pitcher that said he wasn’t coming back, either," Girardi said, referring to Pettitte. "He came to camp, sat in on a few meetings and all of a sudden he was back a couple weeks later. Any time we have a guy that is doing what Jorge is doing, people are going to speculate. And I think it’s fair to do that."

HUGHES IMPROVES: Phil Hughes said his back felt "significantly better" after three days of anti-inflammatories for a bulging disk, but Joe tempered his enthusiasm somewhat. "It’s still too early. I think you have to see him get on the mound to feel that you’re through it and that it’s not going to be an issue that pops up all the time. But that’s a good sign," he said.

COOL ON AARDSMA: Joe was curiously restrained in his praise of David Aardsma, who is trying to work his way back from Tommy John surgery. when asked how Aardsma looked in his live BP, which preceded Pettitte's, Girardi said "Pretty good," with emphasis on the word "pretty. And when he was asked if Aardsma, a former closer with the Seattle Mariners, was reasonably assured of a bullpen spot, the manager said, "I think we have some pretty good competition here for some spots. I like to say all our guys have to earn their spots. That’s the way I look at it. He’s a guy that has closer experience and a lot of experience. You would expect that to pay off." We'll see.

TAMPA, Fla. -- We're settling into a regular routine now, pitchers work early with Larry Rothschild, followed by the full squad on the field around 11 a.m. for stretching, infield practice and BP. Today, we threw in a new wrinkle -- the Phil Hughes injury, which may be more serious than the Yankees first believed.

1. HUGHES' BACKACHE: An MRI revealed Hughes has a bulging disk in his mid-to-upper back, causing stiffness and restricted movement in his right (pitching) side. The Yankees are treating it with anti-inflammatories (a Medrol Dose pack of medical steroids) but GM Brian Cashman called the official diagnosis "new information" and said he expected Hughes to be out at least two weeks.

2. JOBA/YOUK?: Joba Chamberlain will throw a round of live BP today, and if I read the schedule correctly, may very well be throwing to a BP group that includes his favorite target, Kevin Youkils.

3. IS TODAY THE DAY?: The day that Derek Jeter runs the bases, that is? That is one of the few remaining hurdles standing before Jeter in his attempt to make it back for Opening Day. Sounds simple but The Captain hasn't done it yet.

4. TODAY WAS PHOTO DAY: Everybody looked real nice in their sparkly white home uniforms, something you rarely see in the clubhouse, where sweats and yeah, underclothes are the norm. Presumably, the absent Alex Rodriguez will be photoshopped into the picture.

5. YANKEES LIVE CHAT TODAY A little later because of the spring training schedule, but we'll go at 2:30. Here's the link.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Phil Hughes has a bulging disk in his upper back and will be out of action for 6-7 days at best, the Yankees announced. He'll be treated with anti-inflammatories.

More to come.

Phil Hughes, David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain and Boone Logan have all filed for arbitration, according to the MLBPA.

Hughes made $3.2 million in 2012. He is eligible to be a free agent after 2013.
Robertson made $1.6 million in 2012. He is eligible to be a free agent after 2014.
Chamberlain made $1.675 million in 2012. He is eligible to be a free agent after 2013.
Logan made $1.875 million in 2012. He is eligible to be a free agent after 2013.

The Yankees and the players can come to agreements before the February hearings. All of these players will receive raises.

QUESTION: If you could keep one, and only one, of the four mentioned above for 2014 and beyond, who and why?

Strike one potential topic of postgame conversation from the list. Joe Girardi said Phil Hughes will start Game 4 against the Baltimore Orioles even if the Yankees are facing elimination.

I had barely gotten finished the question at Girardi's private session with the beat writers when the manager said, "Hughesy will start tomorrow.''

Under any circumstances? "Hughesy's starting tomorrow.''

Among Girardi's reasons were his preference to have CC Sabathia on full rest for a potential Game 5, and his qualms abut using Andy Pettitte on short rest if he went to Sabathia earlier.

Bottom line, as the manager likes to say, if the Yankees lose to the Orioles tonight, their season will rest on the right arm of Phillip Joseph Hughes.

For a team that needs to win today to avoid possibly tumbling out of first place in the AL East for the first time since June 10, the Yankees are not off to a very good start.

Phil Hughes, who got belted around the last time he pitched at the Rogers Centre, picked up where he left off on August 12, giving up two first inning runs on some very loud hits. It started with a one-out single by Rajai Davis followed by a walk to Edwin Encarnacion. Yunel Escobar then scorched one between the outfielders to the wall in right-center, scoring Davis, but for some reason Encarnacion slowed between second and third, perhaps thinking the ball could be caught. (It couldn't.)

Encarnacion scored the second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to fairly deep center by Adam Lind. Meanwhile, the Yankees have had two singles off Henderson Alvarez and trail, 2-0, after two innings.

Phil Hughes stats to watch
Hughes has won three straight starts. He’s only won more than three straight starts once in his career -- a five-start run in May/June, 2010.

If Hughes can win his last two starts of the season, he’ll match his career-high of 18 wins, done in 2010.

His nine strikeouts in his most recent win over the Blue Jays were his most in a start in more than three months (he had nine against the Nationals on June 15).

Seven strikeouts have been the magic number for him this season. When Hughes has recorded at least seven strikeouts, he’s 7-0 with a 2.44 ERA and gets misses on 26 percent of his swings.

In his other 22 starts, he’s 9-11 with a 4.45 ERA. Hitters miss on about 18 percent of their swings.

The key to those high-strikeout starts is a swing-and-miss fastball. His four best strikeout games coincided with his best fastball miss rates this season.

Inside the Matchup: Hughes vs. Mauer
Mauer is 0-for-9 against Hughes in the regular season and you can see in the heat map atop this article that Hughes has done a nice job working the edges of the plate in getting Mauer out.

Hughes can get an edge on Mauer if he can throw him a first-pitch strike. Mauer rarely swings at the first pitch and Hughes has been great recently when he’s been able to get up 0-1 in the count.

Opponents are 5-for-42 with 17 strikeouts and one walk against him after he reaches an 0-1 count in his last three starts. They are 7-for-22 with three walks when he falls behind 1-0.

Mauer has been most gettable this season against the outside pitch from a right-handed pitcher.

Captain streaking
My colleague, Katie Sharp, the most ardent supplier of Yankees notes in the ESPN Stats & Information group, points out that Derek Jeter, who enters with an 18-game hitting streak, has the Yankees' longest September hitting streak since Don Mattingly hit in 22 straight September games (as part of a 24-game streak in 1986).

She also alertly noted to our group that the Yankees are one win away from their 60th season with at least 90 wins. No other team is close to that total. The Giants rank second with 41 and are going for their 42nd tonight too.

Cano's slump
Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano is now homerless in his last 11 games, and is 8-for-45 in that span. Dating back further, he’s hitting just .221 with a .393 slugging percentage since August 13.

Most of that damage has been inflicted by left-handed pitchers, but Cano is also 1-for-18 in the last six games in which he’s faced a righty, as he will tonight.

Pitchers have done well recently attacking Cano down in the strike zone. Of the 17 times he’s made an out against righties in that stretch, 12 have come on pitches in the lower-third of the strike zone or below.

That goes against a larger sample size. Prior to this slump, Cano was hitting .346 with 10 homers when a righty ended an at-bat with a pitch in that location.

WHAT IT MEANS: It means the Ichiro Show continued on Thursday night. A day after going a combined 7-for-8 in the double-header sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays, Suzuki belted a homer and doubled, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs in the New York Yankees' 10-7 win.

Nick Swisher added a towering grand slam in the Yanks' seven-run fourth and Derek Jeter finished 2-for-4 with two runs driven in to help lift the Yanks to their fifth straight win.

The Yankees moved a full game ahead of idle Baltimore in the AL East race with 13 games to go.

THE GOOD: The fourth inning. It started with Suzuki's two-run double, which gave him hits in seven straight plate appearances. It ended with Swisher staring at his towering grand slam, which landed deep in the right-field seats. The seven-run inning tied a season high for the Yanks. For Swisher, it was his third grand slam of the season.

LOWE LOOKING GOOD: Derek Lowe came in and got the job done out of the Yankees' pen. The 39-year-old tossed two scoreless innings, striking out two and walking two. He has posted zeroes on the scoreboard in his past four outings (five innings). ... Rafael Soriano, who saved both wins on Wednesday, got the night off Thursday. David Robertson came in and got the save.

THE SO-SO: Maybe the best thing about Phil Hughes' night was he had good run support. Hughes' stuff seemed strong -- he struck out nine Jays -- but he got banged around at times on Thursday.

His final line? Four hits and four runs allowed in five innings. He walked three and forced a run in with a hit-by-pitch in the second. He gave up a home run -- his 34th allowed on the season -- in the fifth inning.

THE BAD: Alex Rodriguez finished 1-for-5 with a strikeout. He was booed lustily after going down looking in the eighth. Rodriguez will be happy to see Toronto leave town. He finished 1-for-12 with six strikeouts in the three-game series.

COREY STORY: Cory Wade struggled on Thursday. He gave up three runs on three hits in a third of an inning, including a towering homer by Kelly Johnson. Two of those runs came courtesy of batters touching up Joba Chamberlain, who allowed two inherited runners to score while giving up two runs in two-thirds of an inning.

WHAT'S NEXT: A three-game series against Oakland. CC Sabathia takes the mound on Friday.