Could Phil Hughes' "Dead Arm" Be Rick Ankiel Syndrome?

The "slight positive" news for the New York Yankees is that pitcher Phil Hughes' test results for thoracic outlet syndrome came back negative after being examined in St. Louis by Dr. Robert William Thompson on Monday.  The bad news is that doctors still say the righthander's arm problems are a mystery to them.

Doctors have now ruled out TOS, which causes circulatory problems.  This leaves everybody wondering just what is wrong with the 24 year-old pitcher and his "dead arm?"

If it's not a physical problem causing Hughes to lose the velocity on his fastball, it might be psychological and that draws comparisons to another young hot-shot pitcher who suddenly lost his mojo--Rick Ankiel.

Ankiel was the St. Louis Cardinals 20 year-old lefthander with a blazing 97 mph fastball who, after a wonderful rookie season in 2000, turned into the real life Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn from "Major League."