The LoHud Yankees Blog

If the Yankees don’t want A.J. Burnett to make his next start, what’s the best immediate option?

Andy Pettitte is out for another two weeks or so, Ivan Nova is already up from Triple-A and Dustin Moseley is already converted from his mid-season work as a reliever. The only extra starting pitchers on the 40-man — Andrew Brackman and Hector Noesi — have a total of one Triple-A start between them.

The options are pretty limited.

Javier Vazquez
Bumped from the rotation just last week, his best outing of the month was in relief of Phil Hughes on Wednesday night when Vazquez went 4.1 scoreless innings. Having him skip a start earlier this season got him turned around.

Sergio Mitre
Terrific in relief of Burnett last night, he’s topped 50 pitches in each of his past two appearances, suggesting he could go close to 70 in a start that would come in September when the roster is expanded. He has a 2.45 ERA as a reliever this season, but — in a three-game sample — a 5.93 as a starter.

Chad Gaudin
If he could repeat last season’s down-the-stretch performance, he could be a significant help. Before a rocky outing on Tuesday, he had a 1.13 ERA this month. Hasn’t thrown more than 46 pitches in a game since July 17.

Waiver claim/trade
Ted Lilly is reportedly on waivers right now. His Dodgers teammate Hiroki Kuroda was placed on waivers a few days ago. Earlier this week, Brian Cashman told Wally Matthews he had no interest in going outside the organization for pitching help. Is it possible that’s changed based on the past two games?

Give A.J. Burnett credit for this much: Few players give a more honest self evaluation than he does.

“I leave the pen every five days feeling the same,” he said. “Great warmup, (feel) strong. I’m just not taking it to the field. Enough’s enough.”

Joe Girardi seemed to agree last night. At least, he hinted that he agreed. Girardi strongly hinted that he will consider skipping Burnett the next time through the rotation. It would be hard to blame him.

Burnett’s fastball has good velocity, but it’s getting hit: “I’m leaving the ball over the plate,” he said.

Burnett’s curveball doesn’t seem nearly as reliable as in the past: “I always want to throw my hook for a strike, but it seems the ones I throw for strikes are getting hit too,” he said.

It’s hard to blame Girardi for considering the alternatives, but two facts stand out: 1. Burnett still has three years left on his deal. It’s one thing to give up on a guy like Javier Vazquez who’s in his walk year. It’s another to give up on a guy who’s going to be here for a while. 2. The alternatives are largely unknown. It’s a group headlined by Vazquez himself, a guy who was just bumped from the rotation because of a string of ineffective starts — a string even longer than Burnett’s.

Girardi might very well follow through on his vague threat. It would be hard to blame the guy for preferring Vazquez or Sergio Mitre or Jason Hirsh at this point, but at it’s very best, the Yankees rotation includes Burnett. It doesn’t include the version we saw last night, but it includes some version of him, and it’s probably going to have to include him for a while.

Here’s Burnett after last night’s game.

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Associated Press photo of Burnett

This was the question asked of Joe Girardi after tonight’s game: I know you don’t have a lot of options, but are you still committed to (A.J. Burnett) as a starting pitcher?

This was the answer: “I’ve said we’ll evaluate after this weekend where we are and what we need to do.”

Girardi said more or less the same thing earlier this week, but those comments seemed directed at the rookie Ivan Nova and the recently demoted Javier Vazquez. They might have been directed at Phil Hughes and his innings limit, but they certainly didn’t seem to be aimed at Burnett. This time, Burnett was the question and that was the answer.

“Take it the way you want to take it,” Girardi said.

Burnett has been wildly inconsistent. He’s now gone yet another month without a win. He did it in June, and now he’s done it in August. There were some good starts mixed in there — the complete game in Kansas City, a solid three-run no-decision in Texas — but when he’s been bad, Burnett has been awful.

“It’s Groundhog Day again,” Burnett said. “It’s the same situation. You come in the first game (of the series) and take your team out of it in the first two or three innings. It weighs on these guys. It’s got to be frustrating not knowing what you’re going to get every five days.”

Here’s the Girardi postgame audio. Sorry, there’s a lot of music in the background.

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• Asked if he would be surprised to skip his next start, Burnett said: “It would surprise me, (but) he makes the decisions.”

• Asked what’s caused the bad outings, Burnett said: “I’m just not getting swings on pitches I’m used to getting swings on, and the balls I’m throwing that they’re hitting are just getting too much of the plate, I guess… Some of those curveballs, they’re good 0-2 curveballs, but what good are they when you’re 0-0.”

• In the fourth inning, the final two runs scored on an error and a wild pitch. That combined with the Burnett struggles and the 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position made for an ugly night. “We just didn’t play well,” Girardi said. “You’re going to have games when you don’t play well. We don’t have a whole lot of those, but every team goes through those. We need to bounce back tomorrow.”

• The one bright spot was an obvious one: Sergio Mitre gave the Yankees 4.2 innings with only one hit allowed. It’s the second straight game in which a Yankees long reliever has pitched longer and better than the starter.

• Mitre has a 2.45 ERA as a reliever this season.

• Nick Swisher hit his first home run since August 2 and now has nine hits in his past 28 at-bats.

• Francisco Cervelli snapped an 0-for-16 streak with a single in the fifth.

• Not sure what, if anything, could come from it, but the New York Post is reporting that Ivan Nova and Wilkin De La Rosa are being investigated for possibly giving one another B-12 shots last year. B-12 is not a banned substance.

• Tonight’s rehab pitching line on Alfredo Aceves: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. He threw 42 pitches, 22 for strikes. Donnie Collins said he just didn’t look quite right.

Associated Press photos of the Yankees bench and Derek Jeter

A.J. Burnett had another bad start, and for a second straight game the Yankees had a starting pitcher unable to pitch out of the fourth inning. Burnett hasn’t won since July 28, and this time he allowed all nine runs in a 9-4 loss to the White Sox. Sergio Mitre pitched well in relief, but the Yankees couldn’t make up for Burnett’s struggles and couldn’t pick up a game on the Rays in the division standings.

Associated Press photo of Sergio Mitre

YANKEES (78-49)
Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Ramiro Pena 3B

RHP A.J. Burnett (9-11, 4.80)
Burnett vs. White Sox

WHITE SOX (69-58)
Juan Pierre LF
Omar Vizquez 3B
Alex Rios CF
Paul Konerko 1B
Carlos Quentin RF
A.J. Pierzynski C
Alexei Ramirez SS
Mark Teahen DH
Gordon Beckham 2B

RHP Freddy Garcia (10-5, 5.08)
Garcia vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 8:10 p.m. / YES Network

UMPIRES: HP Alfonso Marquez, 1B Tim Timmons, 2B Tim Tschida, 3B Bob Davidson

WEATHER: Absolutely gorgeous day here in Chicago. I can’t imagine it gets much nicer than this in late August. Upper 70s. No clouds. Just a really nice day.

CLOSE ON THE ROAD: Of the Yankees’ 63 road games, 36 have been decided by three runs or less. That includes 10 of the past 12 and 13 of the past 18. Eight of the past 12 road games have been decided by one run, with the Yankees going 3-5 in those games.

ONE AWAY: With his next appearance, closer Mariano Rivera will pass David Weathers for sole possession of 17th place on baseball’s all-time games pitched list.

TOUGH MATCHUP: As a team, the Yankees have a collective .181 career batting average against Freddy Garcia. Of the five guys with at least 10 at-bats against him, Derek Jeter’s .265 average is the highest. Mark Teixeira is hitless in 13 at-bats against Garcia, and Granderson has a .182 average with 12 strikeouts in 33 at-bats.

UPDATE, 8:12 p.m.: Brett Gardner is fast, and because of that, he’s standing at third base right now. Freddy Garcia tried to rush a throw, threw the ball a way and Gardner took two extra bases on the error.

UPDATE, 8:13 p.m.: Jeter grounds to short and it’s a 1-0 Yankees lead.

UPDATE, 8:22 p.m.: Before he’s recorded an out, A.J. Burnett has allowed two hits and let the White Sox tie the game at 1.

UPDATE, 8:36 p.m.: It’s rarely good when less than 30 minutes into the game, the Yankees bullpen is already going into action. Burnett has already allowed four runs and he just now got the third out of the first inning. The White Sox batted around. It’s 4-1 and Burnett might not last long.

UPDATE, 9:01 p.m.: I’m going to go ahead and say that any time Ramiro Pena steals a bag directly in front of him, there’s a good chance Brett Gardner is going to steal a bag too. Pena stole his way into scoring position, then scored on Gardner’s single. Now Gardner has stolen his way into scoring position, and the yankees have three outs to get him home as well. It’s 4-2 in the third.

UPDATE, 9:08 p.m.: Strikeout. Pop out. Fly out. Gardner left stranded. Still 4-2.

UPDATE, 9:36 p.m.: Mitre is in with the White Sox leading 7-2 in the fourth. Just an ugly outing for Burnett. At one point he retired five in a row. Those were half of his outs in the entire game.

UPDATE, 9:42 p.m.: An error and a wild pitch brought in two more runs here in the fourth. It’s been an ugly game for the Yankees. It’s 9-2.

Andy Pettitte felt good today. He threw 25 pitches, none of them at 100 percent effort, and his arm and groin felt strong afterward. In that way, today was a good day, but he’s had days like this before.

“I don’t feel anything,” he said. “But I also know I didn’t feel it before, either.”

Pettitte said he hasn’t been sleeping well — “It’s sad when you’re anxious and not sleeping as well about a bullpen,” he said — and he can’t help looking at the schedule and realizing the days are limited, and there aren’t a lot of them left. Even so, he’s trying not to rush. That’s why he followed Gene Monahan’s advice today and did not go full effort. Joe Girardi said Pettitte will likely throw a more intense bullpen on Sunday, and they’ll map things out based on that session.

“I definitely was at the point I am right now before, for sure,” Pettitte said. “I’m going to be as careful as I can so I can get back. I realize how easy it is to screw this up. That’s all I’m worried about right now.”

Girardi said the staff had its collective fingers crossed this afternoon. It was clearly not a day for Pettitte to take a significant step forward, but it was a day when he could have fallen back. Girardi said he doesn’t know the earliest Pettitte could be back at this point, but he wants him to face hitters at least twice. Three and even four times is possible, he said.

“I think you really have to look at his next bullpen,” Girardi said. “See how hard he’s able to go. See how many pitches. Does he need another bullpen? Is a simulated game the next step? Just going to have to wait and see after each turn.”

• It was a massive group that surrounded Girardi for his media session in the dugout. Most cleared out when he finished talking about the Cubs managerial opening. “I think there are 30 jobs in baseball that you can manage in the big leagues, and every one of them is attractive because you’re one of a select few,” Girardi said. “And if you love to manage, any job of the 30 is a wonderful job.”

• More on managing: “If you love this game, it’s flattering to hear your name mentioned as a big league manager. I was flattered to be mentioned with the Yankees. I was flattered to be mentioned with the Marlins. If you love the game, like I do, it’s nice. But my focus is here. I have a responsibility to the Steinbrenners, who have treated me great, and my family great. To Brian Cashman and his staff. To the guys in that room. And to the entire organization and our fan base.”

• Alfredo Aceves has a rehab outing tonight with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Hector Noesi is starting, so it looks like Aceves will pitch out of the pen.

• Lance Berkman took ground balls at first base during batting practice (there’s a chance he’s done that before I just haven’t noticed it). He told me in Toronto that his ankle feels fine, and Girardi said he’s supposed to start running on it again here in Chicago.

• Javier Vazquez should be available to pitch again on Sunday.

• The Red Sox and Rays begin a three-game series tonight. “If we take care of our own business, we’ll be OK,” Girardi said. “I guess ultimately I would wish that they both lost. Can there be a tie?”

• Speaking of the Rays, they just added Brad Hawpe. He could help their unsettled DH situation.

• The White Sox were awarded the waiver claim on Manny Ramirez, but it seems unlikely he’ll be here before the end of this series.

Associated Press photos of Pettitte and Girardi. See that hand holding a couple of recorders over people’s heads in the Girardi shot? Yeah, that’s me. Being 5-foot-10 sucks sometimes.

Andy Pettitte felt good after a 25-pitch bullpen session, but he did not try to throw at 100 percent effort. That was at the urging of the training staff. The greater test will probably come in his next bullpen session — most likely Sunday or Monday — when he might be able to push it a little more.

“I didn’t feel any discomfort at all, so for me that’s a positive,” Pettitte said.

This doesn’t seem to be quite as significant a step forward as expected, but it certainly wasn’t a step back.

Here’s the lineup.

Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Ramiro Pena 3B

At some point this afternoon, before tonight’s Yankees game against the White Sox, Joe Girardi is going to talk about his expiring contract and the Chicago Cubs managerial opening. He’s going to do it with both New York and Chicago media on hand in hopes that this will be a one-time-only event, getting the questions out of the way all at once, much like Derek Jeter did in spring training.

“I don’t know what they’re going to ask, but I’m going to do it on Friday and that will be it,” Girardi said on the last day in Toronto. “It’s just another thing you have to deal with. I understand people want to know what you’re thinking, but my responsibility is here.”

It’s hard to imagine Girardi will say much he hasn’t already said. He pretty much laid it out on Monday.

“I know I have a background (in Chicago),” he said. “I’m not going to skirt around my background there. I grew up a Cubs fan. I played for the Cubs. But I’m not worried about that right now. I’m worried about what we’re doing now. We’re in a fight.”

That’s pretty much all you can expect from him. Maybe Girardi will make some grand announcement this afternoon, but it’s more likely he’ll acknowledge the facts — he has strong ties to both organizations, he’s won in New York, he has family in Chicago — without actually revealing anything. Acknowledge the basic facts and move on.

It worked for Jeter.

Today
RHP A.J. Burnett (9-11, 4.80)
vs.
RHP Freddy Garcia (10-5, 5.08)
8:10 p.m., YES Network

Saturday
LHP CC Sabathia (17-5, 3.02)
vs.
LHP John Danks (12-8, 3.31)
7:05 p.m., YES Network

Sunday
RHP Ivan Nova (0-0, 2.16)
vs.
RHP Gavin Floyd (8-10, 3.97)
2:10 p.m., YES Network / TBS

Back in my days covering the Phillies Triple-A team, I saw Chase Utley and Ryan Howard and Ryan Madson and Cole Hamels shoot to the big leagues. I also saw Gavin Floyd labor thought occasional call-ups and frustrating minor league numbers.

Floyd was a massive prospect, at one point more highly touted than any of the other guys mentioned. Coaches and minor league instructors constantly said his stuff was the best in the system, better than most of the guys in the big leagues, but it took him a while to put it all together. He’s one of those guys I’ve been happy to see finally have some extended major league success.

Side story: Floyd and Mark Teixeira grew up together, literally right across from one another.

All times Eastern. Associated Press photo of Burnett.

The most important pitches thrown today in Chicago might belong to Andy Pettitte, who is scheduled for a short bullpen session of 20 to 25 pitches.

“I think we’re all curious to see how he’s going to do,” Joe Girardi said. “I think there’s anxiety on Andy’s part and on everybody’s part… I think it will be a good indicator. Every time that he’s tried to really push off, he’s felt a little tug. If he’s able to really push off on Friday, that would tell me that he’s healed.”

If not?

“That would be a pretty big setback,” Girardi said.

To say the least. If all goes well today, Pettitte scheduled would include an extended bullpen, then a simulated game, then a rehab start or two, possibly in the minor league playoffs. First things first, he has to get through today without any problems.

“I think it’s extremely important,” Girardi said. “Andy is a guy that has pitched in those type of games in September, October and now sometimes we play in November. He understands what it’s like to pitch in those type of games.”

Associated Press photo of Pettitte