FORT MYERS, Fla. -- To see just how much Phil Hughes embraced his new team and his new town, you have to look no further than his locker stall at Hammond Stadium.
In the top shelf of the locker sits a green glove with red stitching -- colors that Minnesota Wild fans would recognize instantly. Though the glove probably isn't legal to use in games, Hughes obtained it after last season to use to shag fly balls in batting practice.
The fact that Hughes, a diehard Tampa Bay Lightning fan, has even come to appreciate the Wild enough to get his first new glove since 2008 in their colors says plenty about how comfortable the 28-year-old right-hander feels in Minnesota.
"The Rawlings rep comes in at the end of every season and asks us what we want for spring training," Hughes said. "I'm not usually a guy that orders a bunch of gloves, but this year I just thought it'd be fun to do a Minnesota Wild sort of color scheme."
Hughes' first year in Minnesota was a pleasant surprise to many. After a disappointing season with the Yankees under the bright lights in New York, Hughes found a new home with the Twins and thrived at Target Field. He emerged as the team's top pitcher by a long shot, winning 16 games while posting a 3.52 ERA.
The 2014 season was so good for Hughes that he and the Twins agreed to a contract extension that will keep him in Minnesota through 2019; his original three-year deal ran through 2016. There were several factors in Hughes' decision to re-up with the Twins: the ballpark, the relationships he'd formed with teammates; the city (he chose to buy a house in Minnesota instead of rent); and of course the money didn't hurt, either.
There were question marks before the extension, too. Hughes' first manager with the Twins, Ron Gardenhire, was let go after the 2014 season. So was pitching coach Rick Anderson. But once Paul Molitor was hired as the new manager and Neil Allen was named the new pitching coach, Hughes gave the green light for his contract extension.
"Once that was decided, I felt comfortable enough moving forward that this was a place I wanted to be for a long time," Hughes said. "That's only half the story. The organization has to feel the same way about you. I feel like they did. It kind of worked out for everybody involved."
If all goes according to the Twins' and Molitor's plan, Hughes will be the team's Opening Day starter on April 6 in Detroit. That, combined with the way Hughes pitched last year, would be enough to perhaps label him as the ace of the staff.
Hughes doesn't buy into that label much, though.
"Everything gets shuffled up. It matters on Opening Day and it matters in the playoffs. In between then, everybody's going out there and trying to win a ballgame," Hughes said of the ace label. "We're just going out there and trying to win games on our day. That doesn't change whether you're No. 1 or No. 5. You're just going out there and trying to give it everything you've got. If I'm looked at that way, then that's fine. If not, that's fine too. I'm just going to go out there and do what I do and see how it shakes out."
Molitor isn't the biggest fan of the term "ace," either, but knows he has a pitcher in Hughes who has the chance to be special once again in 2015.
"I think that we like to through the media deem who's qualified to be a legitimate ace, who's forced to be an ace," Molitor said. "He's, given where we're at, in my mind the most deserving to start the first game. I hope that he develops and is able to put together multiple seasons that are similar to last year's."
During Hughes' impressive 2014 season, he set a new major league record for the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in a single season. He fanned 186 batters and walked just 16 for a ratio of 11.63, edging Bret Saberhagen's old mark of 11.00.
As the season finale drew nearer last year, Hughes was constantly asked about the record and whether it was on his mind. It wasn't, he insisted, it won't be in 2015, either.
"It was a cool stat, but I think it was more just sometimes you can't control those things," he said. "There's a lot of different variables that go into that. It was just more a factor of me being aggressive and confident and throwing a lot of strikes. That particular stat happened to work out in a positive way, but it's not something you strive for. You're just trying to execute the best pitches you can in any situation. It's a cool thing to look back on, but it's certainly not a focus."
What is a focus is helping lead the Twins' rotation that ranked dead last in ERA in 2014. Minnesota added Ervin Santana this offseason, and the team is hoping for a bounceback year from right-hander Ricky Nolasco. Kyle Gibson appears in line for a spot in the rotation as well, while several arms will battle for the No. 5 position.
Hughes sees the other pitchers in the rotation and has high expectations. He believes a new-and-improved Nolasco can rebound. He knows Santana has been a top-of-the-rotation pitcher during his career. And Hughes believes competition will be a great thing for whoever breaks camp as the No. 5 starter.
As for himself? Hughes isn't resting on the laurels of his stellar 2014 campaign.
"I feel like if I can just stay healthy and take the ball that everything falls into place for me," Hughes said. "It's when I either have injuries or bumps in the road, things like that, that everything kind of unravels. My body felt great last year. I was able to go out there and compete every five days and give us 100 pitches and hang in there and stick in there. Those are the kind of things you're proud of, not so much numbers or anything."
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