Debby Wong-USA Today Sports
The time has come for the great Andy Pettitte of the New York Yankees to announce he is stepping aside. He doesn’t have to announce he is retiring—either effective immediately or at the end of this season. He simply needs to let management know that he is willing to step aside for the better of the progress of the team.
Pettitte won his first three out of the gate, and looked good doing so. Since then he has struggled to find his control. He’s had to throw more pitches than usual which is getting him pulled quicker each game. This does not hold up in the long run for a well-used pitcher that is about to turn 41 years old.
I am an Andy Pettitte fan. I will be sad to see him go. But I am even sadder to see him struggle like he has his past few outings. On Sunday against the Oakland A’s, Pettitte lasted only five innings, giving up four runs on four hits, two being home runs. He walked four and only struck out two. It was very un-Andy-like.
The season just gets longer. The weather only gets hotter. And the New York media only gets grumpier. If the great lefty from Louisiana is already showing serious signs of wearing down six weeks into the season, how is he going to look in August?
I don’t know if Pettitte is a bullpen guy or not…I would say no. But asking him to go every fifth game, which is basically once every eight or nine days, may be asking too much. Perhaps without shutting him down completely, the Yanks could give him the ball every other fifth start. And keep him loose with an inning or two of middle relief in between.
With Ivan Nova and Joba Chamberlain on the short term DL and Michael Pineda not quite ready to begin rehab assignments, the Yankees are short on pitching. GM Brian Cashman must be asking around about any journeymen starters available for a small price by now. They are lucky in many ways to have Pettitte, but you’d like to see lefty go down on top. Somehow easing his workload should be the order for the day for Cashman on Pettitte.
Kenny Bristow is a Los Angeles Dodgers writer for www.RantSports.com.
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