There are two times of year that we typically turn to the idea of a Twins Way for pitching, in the summer when our Clone Army is getting shelled and in the winter when we pick up new recruits for the aforesaid army. I'm actually pretty pleased with the news that there is something physically wrong with Ricky Nolasco, because I wasn't ready to accept that he just sucked now. Battered around a little by a DH league, sure. but not out-and-out shitty like this. Pelfrey is... whatever. I really thought a 93mph sinker would work, but it didn't. And then he stopped throwing hard on top of that.

But Phil Hughes has been an absolute delight, and part of the reason is that he's fit into the Clone Army without actually sacrificing his ability to gain swings and misses. In fact, Hughes dropping the slider and going fastball/cut-fastball/change/curve has resulted in a (slight) uptick in strikeouts whilst more than halving his prior (already low) walk total. The other shoe to drop is homeruns, as Target Field is apparently playing a nice role in keeping his extreme flyball tendencies in check. But that's actually the only respect in which he's been lucky, as the Twins "defense" hasn't been doing him much favors - not surprising given the weird run of centerfielders (Chris Parmelee?) out there. Honestly, as long as he can approximate that extremely low walk rate, a bounceback in homers isn't going to be a huge deal.

In any case, there's a lot of stuff to ding Rick Anderson over. Like, a lot. But Phil Hughes has been an unmitigated success so far, and it's not because he's playing against the Twins type but because he's embraced it. Don't be afraid of contact early in the count with your fastball, then find a pitch (or two) that works for you to put hitters away. He's signed through 2016, and though he probably wont always be as good as he is right now, he could get some help if our prospect outfield ever really comes together.

Oh, and Kurt Suzuki. But this was about pitching.