It’s probably a little too soon for an, “I told you so.” But, since there are few things in life I enjoy saying more than, “I told you so,” I’m going to go ahead and say, “I told you so.”

So, here it is: I told you so.

Since I tend to “I told you so” with almost as often as I open my mouth, you might be wanting a little clarification.  At the moment, I’m “I told you so-ing” about my undying belief in the untapped potential of Phil Hughes.  And if you watched last night, you know what I’m talking about.

It’s not just that Phil gave us six solid shutout innings against Detroit, during which he allowed only two hits and two walks.  It’s that for the first time since 2007, he looked like the pitcher he once promised to be: dominant, confident, a force to be reckoned with.

Of course, my “I told you so” is only a partial victory.  My rallying cry on behalf of Hughes was part of a larger argument that, rather than sign Pettitte, we should use Hughes as our number five guy.  And, of course, once we had signed Pettitte, I was a huge proponent of the send Joba to the bullpen school of thought.  And, in an ideal world, I still think we should.  (If you’ve been paying any attention to our bullpen, then you’re aware that to say, “I told you so” about this would not only be unnecessary but actually just sort of obnoxious.)  The problem at the moment, of course, is Wang. And, obviously, until we’re sure that Wang is both healthy and able to deliver, that’s not a move we can consider.

Still, let’s project a positive outcome. (Because, hell, if you know me, you know that’s just the kind of girl I am.) Let’s say Wang comes off the DL totally healthy and once again in full possession of his sinker.  Let’s say last night was not fluke but a sign of things to come where Hughes is concerned.  Assuming both of these best case scenarios, I think it’s time to re-open the Joba file.  I know we’ve beaten that debate to the ground and people are sick of it, but given the strong possibility that Bruney may be gone for a while, we have got to figure out a way to get through the 7th and 8th innings.  If we’re really being optimistic, then we can hope that Melancon ends up being part of that equation.  But I remain convinced that Joba holds the key to our late inning success.

In any event, our late inning guys actually managed to hold it together yesterday. Not only did they maintain an eleven-run lead — not enough of a lead to guarantee anything for us these days — but Melancon, Veras and Ramirez each pitched a scoreless inning to get us through the game with an 11-0 victory.

Leaving aside the Hughes resurgence, the highlight of last night’s game was definitely that it was our team and not the other team that got the ten runs in the 7^th – a refreshing change of pace.  Still, Molina, who capped off the hit parade with a grand salami, points out that when it comes down to victory, size doesn’t matter.  He commented, “Whether it was 1-0 or 10-0, we just cared about winning the game.”

True.  But I think I speak for Yankee fans everywhere when I say that 10-0 makes us feel a little better.