TAMPA – From the fourth floor offices of Legends Field to The Bronx, the biggest area of concern for Yankees officials is the starting rotation.
The Yankees are going to score runs. Mariano Rivera will save games. Joba Chamberlain, who may not be as good as he was last year in a seven-week stint, should be solid enough to keep Kyle Farnsworth safely away from the eighth inning.
However, when it comes to the Yankees’ chances of staying close to the Red Sox in the AL East and being in the wild-card hunt in September, the pressure falls on the shoulders of Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina and neophytes Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy.
Informed that some Yankees officials are wary of their rotation, an AL talent evaluator said, “They should be.”
As long as Andy Pettitte’s elbow doesn’t bark loudly, he won’t be on the question mark list. Chien-Ming Wang has won 38 games the past two years and shouldn’t be a big worry. If either one develops into a concern, the Yankees are finished.
After Pettitte and Wang, it gets dicey. Mike Mussina is 39. Phil Hughes is 21 with 13 big league games. Ian Kennedy is 23 and has climbed a major league mound three times.
“Wang will give us a lot of quality starts and the young guys will have to pitch well,” Pettitte said after hurling 3 1/3 innings in an 8-4 win over the Red Sox yesterday at Legends Field. “If I am healthy, you know what you will get out of me.”
After a minor elbow scare last Wednesday when he was scratched from a start, Pettitte returned to the mound, and if not for Johnny Damon losing a ball in the brilliant sun, Pettitte’s numbers would have been better.
“I didn’t feel quite as comfortable as I did in the last start,” said Pettitte, who gave up three runs, three hits and walked two in 3 1/3 innings in his first action in 10 days. “Today I was a little off.”
The best news for Pettitte was the elbow didn’t whimper, never mind bark.
“It felt great,” Pettitte said. “We had a long delay (in the first inning when the Yankees scored four runs) and there is always a concern, but it didn’t tighten up.”
Joe Girardi said he wasn’t worried about Pettitte’s elbow going into the game.
“I had no concerns. Dave (Eiland) told me his bullpen was as good as it was all spring training,” Girardi said.
Pettitte’s first inning was solid, retiring the Red Sox in order and striking out Dustin Pedroia swinging and David Ortiz looking. Pettitte hurled a scoreless second but was victimized by Brandon Moss’s fly ball never coming out of the sun and falling behind Damon on the left field warning track for a double.
Pettitte said he is ready to go from 65 pitches to 80 the next time and could hit the century mark before leaving Florida. Proving he is almost ready, Pettitte moved Ortiz off the plate in the third inning after Julian Tavarez, who has a reputation as a head-hunter, drilled Derek Jeter in the left forearm in the second.
“No doubt you have to back good hitters off the plate,” Pettitte said. “You can’t lay it in over the plate. Hopefully, you make the hitters uncomfortable in the batter’s box. You have to throw inside and not for strikes they can handle. You have to throw strikes in different locations, up and down and change speeds if you want to get them out.”