It looks like the mystery of Phil Hughes' dead arm might reach a conclusion soon, and the butler could be thoracic outlet syndrome. From Ben Shpigel of the New York Times:
Phil Hughes Tests Reveal Possibility Of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
Hughes could have thoracic outlet syndrome. Being sent to st louis for more tests...In tests, doctors saw enough to believe that thoracic outlet could be possibility. Unclear when he’ll see specialist or what timetable is.
For those of use who’ve never heard of this ominous syndrome, here’s a definition from PubMed Health:
Thoracic outlet syndrome is a rare condition that involves pain in the neck and shoulder, numbness and tingling of the fingers, and a weak grip. The thoracic outlet is the area between the rib cage and collar bone.
While that description describes the condition as rare, it's actually relatively common with baseball players. It's still a little odd that Hughes wasn't feeling any pain, but hopefully this will go some ways towards figuring out what's wrong with the Yankees pitcher.
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