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Peter Abraham on the Yankees' newest and bestest middle reliever:

Phil Hughes found something last week he thought he had lost a few years ago. It was a 96-mph fastball.

The 23-year-old right-hander has been pitching in relief since the first week of June when the Yankees decided to return Chien-Ming Wang to the rotation. What seemed at first like a temporary assignment has turned into a move that could be one of the keys to a successful season for the Yankees.

With his perfect inning in last night's 8-5 win over the Mariners, Hughes has pitched seven times in relief. In 13 innings out of the bullpen, he's allowed two earned runs on five hits with only three walks and 16 strikeouts.

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"He is a full-fledged reliever now. I won't hesitate to bring him in in any situation at this point," manager Joe Girardi said. "We still consider him a starter, but right now he's filling a void for us."

General manager Brian Cashman feels the same way. With 37-year-old Andy Pettitte on a year-to-year basis, Hughes is next in line to join the rotation. But that is an issue for next season.

I was watching the Mariners and Yankees last night. Upon watching Hughes uncoiling those mid-90s fastballs, Mariners broadcaster Mike Blowers said something like, "Based on the scouting reports, I didn't expect Phil Hughes to throw this hard. I thought he was more of a low-90s guy."

Really, Mike? You've been around the game for a long time. You never noticed that starting pitchers add some giddyup when they move to the bullpen? Anyway, Hughes is obviously more effective as a reliever and I admire management's reluctance to just leave him in the 'pen forever. I do question the notion that it's "an issue for next season," because that sort of assumes that the Yankees' five starters at this moment will be healthy for the next three months. I also question Girardi's decision last night to yank Hughes after just one perfect inning (and nine pitches!).

It's easy to second-guess him because Brian Bruney came in and blew the lead -- and got the win; nice scoring rules, MLB! -- but Bruney's been pretty brilliant lately. My problem with taking out Hughes is that every time you use him for just one easy inning, you make it that much harder to get him back into the rotation if the need arises. Why not use Hughes for two or three innings at a time? And if the "problem" is not enough work for the other relievers, here's a radical idea: don't carry so many relievers.