FORT MYERS, Fla. — Opening Day is two weeks from today and the back end of the Yankees’ rotation is, if anything, even more uncertain than it was at the beginning of spring training.
“They have to figure something out,” right-hander Freddy Garcia said. “I don’t know how it’s going to end up.”
And though general manager Brian Cashman didn’t provide any clues as to who would follow CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda, he did say the competition wouldn’t go on forever.
“I don’t play it out,” Cashman said of what he expected the rotation to look like. “I just watch what’s going on and we’ll make a decision here shortly, I think. Hopefully they all stay healthy.”
AP
MANAGING TO BE FRIENDLY: Former Red Sox manager Terry Francona (left), now an ESPN announcer, shakes hands with Boston’s new manager, Bobby Valentine, as ESPN’s Orel Hershiser looks on yesterday in the dugout before the Yankees and Red Sox faced off in a spring-training game.
Cashman later defined “shortly” as before Opening Day, but it would make sense for the Yankees to line their starters up for the season.
Although Cashman wasn’t prepared to make any predictions, he said he has liked what he has seen from Phil Hughes as he tries to bounce back after an ugly 2011.
“If Phil Hughes is healthy, I know the type of pitcher he is,” Cashman said of Hughes, who has a 2.02 ERA this spring. “He’s still one of the best young guns, for me, in the game. He won 18 games the year before last.”
Cashman is willing to look past last year’s disappointment because Hughes’ arm wasn’t right.
“As long as he’s healthy, there’s no reason to believe that out of the last three years, those two years before last year are what we’ve really got,” Cashman said.
Questions remain about everyone vying for those three spots, including Andy Pettitte.
“I feel great,” Pettitte said in Tampa. “I just have the regular soreness in my lower half that you would have.”
Neither Pettitte nor manager Joe Girardi would rule out the possibility of the lefty pitching a spring training game, but they both stressed he was being cautious.
“As you get older, you grow to realize that this is a process,” said Pettitte, who has rushed rehabs in the past. “There’s still a little bit of that in me. I don’t know what’s gonna happen. It feels normal.”
Pettitte said he hadn’t detected any uneasiness among any of the other pitchers he might bump from the rotation.
“I would tell you if there was,” Pettitte said. “I think all these guys know I’m here to help us win.”
That includes Garcia, who appeared unhappy after Pettitte’s signing, since he signed as a free agent with the expectation of starting. Yesterday, Garcia insisted it wasn’t a problem.
“I’ve always liked Andy,” said Garcia, who is scheduled to start tomorrow after bruising his right hand last week. “He’s been good for a long time and can definitely help the team. But something has to happen.”
Garcia said he still sees a future for himself in pinstripes.
“Yeah, why not?” said Garcia, adding no trade talk has begun. “I signed here because this is where I want to pitch. Now, it’s different with so many guys, but I guess everyone has to wait for next week. I’m hoping to stay here.”
Pettitte said he knows Garcia is fine with his presence in camp.
“I was in the weight room that first day and Freddy came by and we talked,” Pettitte said. “We’re gonna need all the pitching we can get.”
Soon enough, the Yankees will know who will provide it.
dan.martin@nypost.com
Brian Cashman, Cashman, Phil Hughes, the Yankees, Freddy Garcia, Red Sox, FORT MYERS, Fla.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น