Phil Hughes is tentatively scheduled to begin a throwing program on Thursday and is optimistic that he’ll regain the velocity that has been missing from his fastball this season.

“I’m confident. I know it just didn’t just disappear,” Hughes said of his fastball velocity. “…. I’m confident it will be there.”

The Yankees placed Hughes on the disabled list on April 15 with what the team called a dead arm after his fastball dipped from the 94-92 range he usually reaches to just 89-91 this season. The Yankees later classified Hughes’ injury as shoulder inflammation.

Hughes said on Monday that his shoulder has responded well to a cortisone shot administered on April 28, which relieved some muscle inflammation around his shoulder.

The Yankees hope Hughes will be back on the mound in six to eight weeks.

Hughes saw a specialist in St. Louis who ruled out the possibility that he has thoracic outlet syndrome, a serious and potentially career-threatening condition.

Hughes is hopeful that he and the team can put the velocity issue past them.

“It’s tough, I didn’t want to have to go through this,” he said. “But something wasn’t right and we had to figure what it was.”

Hughes struggled mightily in three starts this season, going 0-1 with a 13.94 ERA.

Bartolo Colon (2-1, 3.86 ERA) replaced Hughes in the rotation.

For more details on Hughes' injury and planned rehab, click here.