E-Boland and the Bombers
Yankees news, commentary and more musings from beat writer Erik Boland and the Newsday baseball team.
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Robertson stronger
Photo credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams, Jr.
Robertson allowed two runs, five hits and a walk in two innings in a minor-league game Friday. He threw 34 pitches, 22 for strikes, in his third appearance since returning from a bone bruise in his right foot.
“He’s still developing arm strength,” Girardi said. “He wanted to work on his fastball today a lot to try and develop that arm strength.”
That was part of the reason Robertson...
Andy Pettitte still doing well
Photo credit: AP
Andy Pettitte threw what he called a “light” side session Thursday and might throw a simulated game this week, keeping an appearance in the Yankees’ final exhibition game next Wednesday a possibility.
“I feel good about it,” Girardi said of what he’s seen two weeks into Pettitte’s comeback. “When I watched his BP the other day, I thought he located his pitches well. I’ve been happy with what...
Starter won't necessarily go to pen
Photo credit: Getty Images
Joe Girardi said the odd man out in the rotation derby won’t necessarily end up as a reliever. “There’s no guarantee the sixth starter goes to the bullpen,” he said.
That was one reason he had D.J. Mitchell come out of the bullpen Thursday night — and part of the reason he had David Phelps start the Yankees’ 4-3 loss to the Orioles.
Girardi has been impressed with Mitchell, Phelps and...
Romine still hurting
Photo credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams, Jr.
Catcher Austin Romine, sidelined since the last week of February with lower back inflammation, had a setback Tuesday and is unlikely to be ready to start the season in Triple-A.
“He doesn’t feel great,” Girardi said. “I don’t know what the next step will be with him.”
Earlier in the day the Yankees announced they claimed catcher Craig Tatum, who appeared in 31 games last season with...
Swisher swings away
Photo credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams, Jr.
Nick Swisher, out since leaving the game March 20 against the Pirates with tightness in his right groin, went 4-for-8, including a home run, in a minor- league game Wednesday. Girardi said Swisher, who did not run the bases Wednesday, could play in the field in a minor-league game Thursday and possibly return to the Yankees’ lineup Friday. ...
Yankees likely to have second lefty in pen
Photo credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams, Jr.
Lost in the extensive focus on the rotation has been another battle in Yankees’ camp.
Joe Girardi said yesterday there’s “a decent chance” the Yankees will take a second lefthander for their bullpen to pair with Boone Logan, with veteran Clay Rapada and Cesar Cabral, taken in the Rule 5 draft from the Red Sox, the candidates.
Both have pitched well in spring training and the Yankees...
Poll results: Andy Pettitte will win 10 games in 2012
Photo credit: AP
The return of Andy Pettitte has no doubt excited Yankee fans for nostalgic reasons, but according to a recent poll on Newsday.com, fans are expecting big things from the lefty.
Sixty-one percent of the fans that voted feel he will be in the starting rotation and win 10 games. Here are the full results from the poll:
He'll start and win 10 games this season - 61% He'll be an effective...
Jeter thinks Pettitte still can be Pettitte
Derek Jeter believes Andy Pettitte still can be the same outstanding pitcher he was, even after a year off and despite closing in on his 40th birthday.
"Yeah, why not? I don’t think he would come back if he didn’t think that," the captain said.
Jeter just gave a knowing grin when...
Pettitte coming out of retirement
Photo credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara
Andy Pettitte is coming out of retirement, the Yankees announced this afternoon.
Pettitte, after a year away from the game, has agreed to a one-year, $2.5-million contract.
That adds an interesting layer of complexity to an already interesting starting rotation situation, with the Yankees having a stiff competition among six starting pitchers for five places in the rotation. It is not...
