Opener Over
With the always highly-anticipated Home Opener over and resulting in a Yankees 5-0 victory, it's back to business as usual in the Bronx. The second game of the series between the Yankees and Angels is just that. It's still a very important test for the Bombers, but the team can now settle in and make themselves at home.
Designated Rest
The Yankees have chosen to DH Alex Rodriguez today with left-hander and new Angels ace C.J. Wilson on the mound. The half day for Rodriguez will only help the Yankees in the long run and save his legs for the grind that is the baseball season.
Joe Girardi discussed his decision before the game, stating, “I could have done either one (Jeter or Rodriguez). I decided to go with A-Rod. I believe we'll see a left hander on Tuesday as well, so I could possibly do the other one that day.”
Girardi went on to say, “It's a feel from day-to-day who I decide to do. That could change. I chose to do Alex today and we're seeing Liriano on Tuesday and I could flip flop that.”
This is certainly a trend we are going to see with Jeter and A-Rod during the season in order to keep them fresh. This situation is definitely a way to help out the team and the individual players through the length of their contracts.
Pettitte pitches tomorrow
Andy Pettitte will start tomorrow's 1 p.m. game for the Class-A Tampa Yankees at Steinbrenner Field.
This is just another step on his way to making his long awaited return to pinstripes in the near future. “It'll probably be about 45-50 pitches,” Girardi said. “You know last time it was two (innings) at 35 (pitches) and he went so few that he went back out there for the third and still only threw 32 (pitches). It's probably easier to put a pitch limit. A-ball, you don't always see people working the count, so it could take a while.”
When asked if the plan was still to start him when he was ready Girardi emphatically said, “Yeah I mean that's why we signed him.”
Girardi went on to say that in the meantime this is still a tryout of sorts for the other pitchers in the rotation to keep their spot. “We're going to have to make an evaluation. We'll cross that bridge when we have to and right now we don't have and we'll just let the guys go out and throw the baseball like they're capable of.”
