Pregame notes: Simulated game, real steps forward
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Notes on Sep 04, 2010 
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Nothing but good news coming out of the simulated three-innings of Team Pettitte against Team Rodriguez.
Andy Pettitte
“I felt better each inning I went out there,” Pettitte said. “I felt like the last inning I turned it up pretty good and wasn’t worried about anything at all.”
No one seems certain what comes next, but Pettitte would ideally throw a bullpen on Monday and make a rehab start on Wednesday. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has a playoff game on the road that day. Not sure about Trenton.
Pettitte threw 50 pitches today and would probably be allowed to throw about 65 in a rehab start. He might not need a second one.
“If he can only give me 75 pitches his first start, that’s not a huge concern of mine,” Girardi said. “The big thing is to get him back and get him back in the mix and making starts every fifth day. That’s the important thing for us.”
Alex Rodriguez
“It was a fun day,” Rodriguez said. “It was a chance to do everything. I love to work. We were out here early and nobody was around. I had an absolute blast… I felt comfortable with the way I ran.”
Rodriguez had a couple of hits off Pettitte, including a line drive to center field. Pettitte said it was a cutter that hung up. Whether Rodriguez plays tomorrow will depend entirely on how he feels when he wakes up.
“I wouldn’t say he was running 100 percent, but I’d say he was pretty close to where he’s going to be,” Girardi said. “I don’t think it’s because of his calf that he wasn’t running 100 percent, I just think he was being smart about it the first day he’s really run sprints around the bases.”
Rodriguez said the Yankees training staff has told him to focus on making “choppy steps” out of the box for the first few days, just to be careful.
• Nick Swisher showed up planning to play, but when he tried to run pregame he felt the same left knee soreness. He’s available to pinch hit. “Other than that, I’ll be with Geno,” he said. Sounds like it’s the kind of thing that he could try to play through, but Swisher said he’s looked at the upcoming schedule and doesn’t want to risk anything right now for fear of missing those big games coming up.
• Why Lance Berkman at DH and not Austin Kearns in right field? I have no idea. We didn’t get a chance to talk to Girardi after the lineup change.
• Chad Moeller on Pettitte’s sim game: “He could have definitely gotten outs today.”
• Despite basically two weeks in he bullpen, Javier Vazquez is not really limited today. He can go 100 pitches, Girardi said.
• The rotation is staying as is. Ivan Nova will make his next scheduled start on Wednesday.
• Waiting at Joba Chamberlain’s locker when he got here this morning: A UCLA jersey of Mike Harkey’s son, who plays tight end for the Bruins.
• Pettitte said he would actually be more nervous to pitch in a minor league playoff game than in a major league playoff game. He knows all the big league guys, he said. He’d be worried about messing up for people he doesn’t know. “I feel like I’m going to go down there and ruin all these kids’ season,” he said. He was mostly joking, but you could tell it’s legitimately something that’s on his mound. He doesn’t want to be rusty for whatever team will be counting on him.
That’s a Chad Jennings iPhone original at the top, and an AP shot of Swisher at the bottom. I’m sure you can’t tell the difference.
should be an interesting game for the center fielders and pitchers. Wind is blowing out to center at 18-20 MPH.
Chad you could be an AP photographer!
I woould rather see Swisher sit the entire day than have him pinch hit and hurt himself…Posada is available as well as Kernes off the bench
Why no Kearns? Deep slump, bad AB’s.
Berkman and Thames are swinging the bats better and Kearns can be a defensive replacement in the later innings.
Risky to run Thames in RF but, it’s worth rolling the dice for one game.
Hi, GB, how are you doing?
It’s a beautiful, sunny, dry day in NY. 75 degrees. I’m grounded at home this PM, waiting for a delivery. You know, where they tell you a window of time, and then don’t show up….At least I’ve got my dog, and the Yankees to keep me company.
What have you been up to?
Seven wins straight.
We are due for a loss today. Unfortunately.
Javy is a flyball pitcher. Putting Thames in the OF seems like a bad means-end fit, even though Kearns has sucked lately.
Didn’t Thames hit 2 HRs off this kid last week? Prob. why he is in there.
Just hope nothing is hit to him
Javy will just have to make sure the balls to the outfield only go to center and left.
So much going on while I slept! Nice photojournalism. The only thing is you made Girardi look bald!
Good news about Alex and Andy.
But you shoulda listened to us. We all told you to rest Swisher.
Predictions…
Thames misses a wind blown fly…gets a hit late in the game…pinch runner…Golston comes and steals a base.
Berkman hits his first HOUR as a Yankee…
Nunez gets two more hits but Pena still comes in late in the game…
Javy goes six innings and gives io four runs…Yankee pen holds the Blue Jays at 4 and the Yankees won their 8th in a row…
Oops. I’m still on the fumes of 2009. Girardi is # 28 now isn’t he?
I am guessing that Granderson helps cover RF
This Yankee line up looks like it could score a lot of runs early, then the defensive replacements can take over later on
Correction…first HOUR not HOUR…that is the time he will hit it…
Thames in the outfield is scary. But I guess Girardi is thinking with Vazquez on the mound if anything is over his head it’s probably in the seats so just catch the routine flyballs. Hopefully it doesn’t cost them and Vazquez actually pitches good.
Dumb phone…Home Run…not HOUR
98NYY
maybe Berkman hits his first HR in the first hour of the game
Nice inning for Javy.