The Yankees are going push Phil Hughes back a day

UPDATE: The Yankees are pushing Hughes back a day and going with Andy Pettitte instead. Which, OK, if you think a day of rest will cure everything that ails Hughes.

4:16 PM: Phil Hughes last pitched on Monday and, after accounting for the Yankees off-day, would be scheduled to pitch Sunday against the Orioles. But not so fast:

Girardi said still has to talk to parties, but strongly hinted Hughes will not start this weekend #Yankees

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) August 30, 2013

Holding him out would be the acknowledgement that Hughes simply hasn’t been getting the job done. He has failed to complete six innings in six of his ten post-All-Star break starts. Heck, five of those didn’t even go five innings. In that time he has complied a 1-6 record with a 5.05 ERA and has given up 61 hits in 51 and two-thirds innings.

The Yankees might have been closer to playoff contention if half their roster wasn’t injured for the bulk of this season. But not punting a start most times Hughes took a turn would have been helpful too.

Indians outfielder Bradley Zimmer is out for the year after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder, the team announced Saturday. The projected recovery timetable spans anywhere from 8-12 months, which puts Zimmer’s return in the second half of the 2019 season, assuming that all goes well.

Zimmer, 25, had not made an appearance for the Indians since June 3. He racked up a cumulative nine weeks on the major- and minor-league disabled lists this season and will have finished his year with a .226/.281/.330 batting line, seven extra-base hits, and four stolen bases in 114 plate appearances.

The outfielder reportedly sustained his season-ending injury during a workout in Triple-A Columbus, where Cleveland.com’s Joe Noga says Zimmer began feeling discomfort in his shoulder after completing a set of one-handed throwing drills. Comments from club manager Terry Francona suggest that the Indians have every reason to believe that he’ll make a full recovery by next summer, though it’s not yet clear whether or not he’ll need additional time to readjust to a full workload when he takes the field again.