Monday, May 12, 2008

Death Rays--Postgame Notes 12 May 2008

I'll be honest. I missed most of tonight's game to catch House, and it seems I made the right choice.

There has to be something worrying about the struggles of Andy Pettitte. Four starts in a row now, and three of four especially, he seems to hit a wall in the fifth inning, and on occasion, even before that.

If it was just one start that it happened, it wouldn't be worthy of note. Even two starts, it might get a passing glance, but little more than that.

Now, however, the Yankees have got to be concerned. Pettitte's coming back to pitch for the Yankees was supposed to be a boon; a way to stabilize the rotation which had two first year pitchers and one veteran nearing the end (and there is a slight irony that Mike Mussina is turning out to be the more reliable of the 2 and 5 tandem). Pettitte has made his mark as being the Yankees' stopper, the one that they can turn to when they need a win the most.

If he can't give the Yankees five or six quality innings, the Yankees have a major issue on their hands.

For incredibly obvious reasons, I can't say if it's fatigue from "old age" or a barking elbow or something unrelated, but whatever is going on has got to be addressed.

The Yankees had contingency plans for Hughes and Kennedy; they can ill afford an ineffective Pettitte.

Even the arguments of a lack of run support can't hold much weight--they help to explain why the Yankees don't win games, but they do not explain Pettitte's recent ineffectiveness.

Yankees fans have got to hope that whatever it is, it will pass quickly.


OPTIMIST TAKE: For such a prolonged outing, the bullpen was fairly effective. Jose Molina had a double; he has been slumping recently.

2 comments:

  1. Rebecca -

    I think I found something! In your "Call 'Em As I See 'Em" column, there is a trend building. Counting last night, the Yankees are now 1-5 in games that Al Leiter is involved with! Either he needs to be paired differently, or he needs to be replaced, stat! (Just joking, of course! But we grasp, we grasp, looking for reason where none exists.)

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  2. Doreen - Al Leiter could be the reason. Or it could be that the Yankees miss Alex and Jorge more than we ever thought.

    I am a bit concerned about Pettitte. He is supposed to be a stable force in the rotation and he has not been. Wonder what is going on with him.

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