Photo: yankees.com
- Adam Parker
May I bring you car around for you, Mr. Pettitte? May I take your coat, Mr. Pettitte?
Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr Pettitte?
The New York Yankees are at the beck and call of Andy Pettitte more now than ever before. The return of Pettitte, which was was once thought of as a luxury has now evolved into a necessity.
The services of the veteran southpaw are desperately needed by the Bronx Bombers, so it's only natural that the Yankees hope Pettitte makes his triumphant return to the big leagues sooner rather than later.
The Yankees began this season with a rotation that was both deep and talented -- a rotation that filled with youthful exuberance and veteran experience -- one that was arguably among the best in the majors entering the season.
What a difference a month makes.
How did we get here? How did the Yankees go from having a surplus of quality arms for their starting rotation to now be counting on Pettitte and also potentially going after Roy Oswalt?
When the Yankees acquired 23-year-old Michael Pineda from the Seattle Mariners, Cashman envisioned him being a quality starter for the Yanks' for years to come. However, the New York will now have at least a year's wait before seeing if Pineda can live up to that potential, after the young right-hander suffered an anterior labral tear on his pitching shoulder.
The minimum recovery time is 12 months.
With Pineda now going under the knife before even making a single regular season start for the Yankees, the other starters will have that much pressure on them to produce.
Unfortunately for New York, the current rotation hasn't exactly done a great job of picking up the pieces.
Staff ace CC Sabathia (2-0; 5.27 ERA), Ivan Nova (3-0; 3.79 ERA) and Hiroki Kuroda (1-3; 4.38 ERA) have pitched satisfactorily thus far, but the back of the rotation -- Phil Hughes (1-3; 7.88 ERA) and Freddy Garcia (0-1; 9.75) -- have struggled mightily.
Don't hit the panic button just yet, Yankees fans.
Pettitte, 39, is nearing a return to the Major Leagues, and not a moment too soon.
If Sabathia, Nova, Kuroda and Pettitte pitch at a high level, the Yankees might have enough to hoist their 28th World Series banner in the rafters at Yankee Stadium.
In the mean time, general Manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi will now have to try and hold everything together while they wait for Pettitte to return.
Get the duct tape, boys.
