Phil Franchise thoughts

I decided to stay up real late to catch Phil Franchise's start at Texas. Neil H is currently in Texas but had a work dinner he had to go to, otherwise he had planned to squeeze in the game and had things gone as well as they might - then he might've really regretted it.

Lets get this out of the way quick smart - Hughes was awesome. The Rangers through 6 1/3 had hit just one ball with any type of authority - and that ended up in a 5-4-3 DP off the bat of Kinsler. His fastball was blowing past hitters, the change-up that he is supposedly 'working on' was flat out nasty. All-Star and stud first baseman Mark Teixeira was thrown three straight change-ups, he swung and missed the first two by a foot and stood and watched the third blow over the heart of the plate.

The pitch count was low - 77 pitches through six innings and the way things were going - he was staying in until he gave up a hit. Then disaster struck, if you're reading this then you'll know what happened. He dug deep to pitch the best curveball he had to finish out Teixeira in the 7th and felt his hamstring pop.

It was a very sad end to a potential historical evening. Hughes was flat out dealing and had his hamstring not gone then I genuinely think he had a real shot at pitching the no hitter. It isn't like there were any fine defensive plays behind him, any time they got wood on the ball then it was either a lazy fly-ball or a ground ball straight at an infielder.

Hughes looks like he'll miss four to six weeks - and that is the best case scenario. People have been discussing whether or not Hughes should've been up but you all saw what he did last night - this kid is ready for the big leagues and I know he got injured - but injuries can happen anywhere at anytime whilst doing almost anything.

I feel for the kid but we got a glimspe at the future last night and the boy Hughes is most certainly for real. Maybe resting that arm for a month plus will be of great benefit later in the season, should we get to play in October but as they say **** happens and you just gotta get on with it.

But still - that kid can deal.