Pettitte feels good after throwing session

Andy Pettitte called it "another good day" in his recovery from a strained left groin and said he still thinks he's on pace to return within the two-week timetable he gave Sunday as a best-case scenario.

"I felt good," said Pettitte, who threw a total of 55 pitches in the bullpen before last night's game. "I felt no discomfort in there at all."

The planned next step is for Pettitte to throw a simulated game Saturday. Should that go well, he thinks he could be ready for a minor-league rehab start.

"I know they want me to face some hitters so if everything's good, I'd imagine that would be the next step," said Pettitte, who has been on the DL since July 19. "Throw some kind of simulated batting practice."

Pettitte anticipates a bit of soreness Thursday - something he felt after Sunday's bullpen session in Chicago, but he said that's normal, especially given that soreness went away by Tuesday. "It [the soreness] has to be just getting that muscle working again with the intensity of striding out as far as I'm striding out when I go hard," he said. "It was a great day as far as I was concerned. I pushed off really good. I'm getting there."

Pettitte threw a session in Chicago Friday that he described then as "nice and easy" before ratcheting up the intensity Sunday, the most encouraging sign in his recovery, which has had several setbacks.

Wednesday he was able to do a simulated inning, meaning he threw 30 pitches, sat for five or six minutes, then resumed throwing. "To be able to sit down and get back up, that was big because you're going to do that in the games," Pettitte said. "For me, I felt like that got me one step ahead of where I was planning on being because in Chicago I was able to go hard."