MLB

Yankees’ Javier struggles while Andy’s quite dandy

BALTIMORE — If your Yankees’ glass is half full it has Andy Pettitte’s picture on the side. Half empty? That’s Javier Vazquez’s face.

Retained to be the midsection of the five-man rotation, Pettitte has been the April ace. Acquired to fill in the back of the rotation, Vazquez is again being asked if he can pitch under the bright lights that shine on the Yankees.

“How can you not like that?” a scout who saw Pettitte dominate the Angels Saturday in a 7-1 victory. “I thought he was done [as an elite pitcher] three or four years ago, but while his stuff isn’t electric, he makes pitches, throws strikes and keeps the ball down.”

Another evaluator predicted the 37-year-old Pettitte is nowhere near the end.

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“He is throwing as good as he has in three years,” the scout said. “He is throwing all of his pitches, he isn’t as one-dimensional as in the past. His arm speed is good and he is using his curveball and change-up. I don’t see why he couldn’t pitch for a couple more years.”

Pettitte, who is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA, faces the White Sox on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.

The next day Vazquez opposes a team he pitched for and will not only be trying to beat them but keep the Stadium denizens off his back. In his last start in The Bronx, Vazquez was booed off the mound.

“That was ugly the way he pitched Sunday,” a scout who witnessed Vazquez giving up five runs and five hits in 3 2/3 innings against the Angels. “All he did was nibble, nibble, nibble. But I don’t blame him because his fastball is not there.”

Vazquez is 1-3 with a 9.00 ERA. Health isn’t an issue he says, but the fastball hasn’t moved speed guns much past 91 mph and the off-speed pitches haven’t located the strike zone enough.

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Nick Johnson will test his lower back in batting practice today before it’s decided if he will be in the lineup against the putrid Orioles tonight at Camden Yards. Johnson missed the final two games against the Angels with back discomfort he said was improving Sunday. He is hitting .135 (7-for-52) with a .375 on-base average. But of his 18 strikeouts, 12 have been looking.

Manager Joe Girardi used Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada as the designated Saturday and Sunday and batted Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher in Johnson’s No. 2 spot in the lineup.

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Mark Teixeira heard boos from the Angel Stadium crowd during the weekend for two reasons: He didn’t re-sign with the Angels as a free agent and Angel fans believe he didn’t have to crash into catcher Bobby Wilson Friday night.

Teixeira can expect the volume to increase tonight at Camden Yards because for some unexplained reason Orioles fans believe Teixeira, a local product, should have signed with the O’s instead of the Yankees as a free agent.

And the customers will take glee in Teixeira coming into Camden Yards batting a woeful .119 (8-for-67) with two homers and eight RBIs.