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Twins pitcher Phil Hughes frustrated, perplexed by dip in velocity

Phil Hughes turns 29 next Wednesday. He is in the prime of his career.

So it greatly perplexes the Twins right-hander to experience such a sustained drop in his arm strength and velocity.

A fastball that averaged 92-93 mph in recent seasons has dipped into the low-90s. Sunday at Texas, in his last start on a muggy afternoon, Hughes struggled to touch 90 mph on the stadium radar gun.

"He's very frustrated," said Twins pitching coach Neil Allen, who says Hughes is down 2 mph with his four-seam fastball. "He can't compete the way he'd like to compete, so he's a little discouraged right now.