Huff to start Saturday vs. Boston in place of Hughes

NEW YORK -- Yankees manager Joe Girardi made a change in his starting rotation Tuesday night, announcing that Phil Hughes would be moved to the bullpen and David Huff will start in Hughes' place on Saturday against the Red Sox.

Hughes has struggled throughout the season, posting a 4-13 record and 4.86 ERA over 26 starts. He's lost 11 of his past 13 decisions, and he has a 6.12 ERA since the start of August.

Huff, meanwhile, has been stellar since being called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Aug. 15, giving up just one run on six hits over 15 innings.

"It's been an up-and-down year for Phil," Girardi said. "Huff's been throwing the ball well and we're just going to make the change."

Girardi and pitching coach Larry Rothschild told Huff about the move prior to Tuesday's game against the White Sox.

Huff has started 52 games in his career -- all of them with the Indians from 2009-12 -- going 17-26 with a 5.41 ERA.

Before rejoining the Yankees bullpen , Huff worked as a starter with the RailRiders, going 3-7 with a 3.90 ERA and being stretched out to 110 pitches.

"I'm happy about it. I'm just trying to go out there and help out the team as much as possible," Huff said. "I'm just here to help, basically. Whether it's an inning out of the bullpen or it's a start."