BALTIMORE — Between the second and third innings of his simulated game yesterday afternoon, Andy Pettitte fought the humidityand honored his code.
He alternated swigging from a water bottle and pouring the contents over his head while staying in steady dialogue with catcher Francisco Cervelli. The conversation revolved around what was and wasn’t working, and how he would face the next batter in the following inning. Those hitters, remember, were teammates Casey McGehee, Eduardo Nunez and Chris Dickerson; not Orioles or Rays.
“The perfectionist,” Yankees strength and conditioning head Dana Cavalea said.
Indeed. Pettitte was being Pettitte. Competitive, self-critical, never satisfied. That his teammates were the opponents and no score was being kept hardly mattered. What did was that Pettitte was talking about perfecting his craft and not an ache in his lower left leg.
Besides, at this point, Pettitte is the anti-Stephen Strasburg. He is not being cautiously shut down, He is being riskily built up. He is 40. There is no future to protect. Pitcher and team are going to push boundaries to get such a vital arm and leader back in major league games.
If anything, the desperation to do so only expanded last night when the man who is supposed to be the Yankees ace, CC Sabathia, again couldn’t hold a lead or an opponent in the park. Sabathia squandered a 2-0 edge in the second by yielding consecutive homers to Mark Reynolds and Lew Ford.
He allowed another run in the third, another homer in the sixth and the Orioles held off a Yankees rally in a 5-4 triumph that once again created a tie atop the AL East. Since coming off the disabled list, Sabathia has blown an early lead in all four starts, and the Yankees have lost the last three at a time when they must get wins when their presumptive No. 1 starter works.
But working without his best fastball (could he still be hurt?), Sabathia no longer projects control over a game. He has contacted the long-ball bug wrecking the whole staff. Sabathia already has surrendered a career-high 21 homers in just 170 innings. The Yankees have permitted a homer in 12 straight games, the third longest streak in their history. The starters have permitted 132 homers, one shy of the team record with 3 1⁄2 weeks still left.
And now the Yankees turn to Freddy Garcia today to try to hold the division lead, though the team has lost faith he could go around a lineup more than twice. Now do you see the urgency to get Pettitte back?
The best guess here is Sept. 18 against Toronto. That would position Pettitte for three starts, including being lined up for the final regular season game if the Yankees need to win that day. But can the Yankees wait even that long?
Regardless of age or state of Pettitte’s body, this organization — from the clubhouse to the front office — is going to believe Pettitte will find a way to navigate a lineup successfully. All involved will want the ball in his hand when the games are most precious. Who else could they say that about now, including Sabathia?
“He is the ultimate difference maker,” Alex Rodriguez said. “He moves the needle more than anyone. It is what he does between the lines, but also what he does in here with his knowledge, his experience and his confidence. No one adds more to winning DNA than Andy Pettitte.”
Which is why yesterday was so important. Not just a step, but a giant one. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild gushed that in the simulated game Pettitte had precision, velocity and command of a four-pitch repertoire. It put him on the clearest trajectory yet back to the rotation.
Without setback and with a doctor’s blessing for full activity that Pettitte fully expects to receive tomorrow, the plan is for the lefty to throw a midweek simulated game in Boston and a bullpen session Saturday in New York. But the Yankees already know part of his rehab is going to have to occur in actual games. The clock is dictating that. So no one should be surprised if he is throwing 75 pitches against the Rays next weekend. When I ask about that scenario, Pettitte said, “I don’t know what more I can say, I just want to pitch.”
He is the anti-Strasburg. Caution pretty much is like the Yankees’ once-big AL East advantage — gone. No use for more simulation. The Yankees need Andy Pettitte as quickly as possible.