Andy Pettitte returns, throws scoreless inning
Andy Pettitte throws against the Mets during a spring training game. (April 4, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
TAMPA, Fla. -- The success wasn't entirely in the effective 13-pitch inning, though it was fairly impressive.
It was that Andy Pettitte felt good enough to make the appearance at all.
The lefthander felt all of his 39 years in a 33-pitch simulated game Saturday, and indicated afterward that being able to pitch in a game before the Yankees broke camp might be a long shot.
But he recovered faster than he thought, felt good after a bullpen Monday and told pitching coach Larry Rothschild that night he wanted to give it a go Wednesday against the Mets in the Yankees' spring training finale.
And so he did, entering the game to a rousing ovation in the sixth inning of an 8-3 victory in front of 10,813 at Steinbrenner Field.
"Felt really good to get the inning in, especially in a big-league game," said Pettitte, facing major-league hitters for the first time since Game 3 of the 2010 ALCS against the Rangers. "Just another good step."
Since announcing his comeback, the Yankees and Pettitte have set May 1 as a general target date for his return to the big leagues.
Pettitte said he thinks in a month he can be ready and would like to be put on an every-fifth-day routine. In his mind that would begin by him starting a game in five days with the High-A Tampa Yankees, the team with which Pettitte is likely to spend much of the next month.
"For me, I feel like the stuff's there," Pettitte said. "When I talk to Larry, he's like, everything's right there. It's just I need to build up the stamina. There's nothing I really feel like I need to work on. Everything's proceeding kind of smoothly right now. I felt like all my pitches were right where I wanted them."
Pettitte, who said he threw everything but his changeup Wednesday, allowed a leadoff hit to outfielder Cory Vaughn before retiring the next two batters (Vaughn was caught stealing for the inning's second out).
"You can't tell at all," Russell Martin said, when asked if Pettitte looked like a pitcher who had taken a year off. "It's just going to be about building his stamina up."
Pettitte's first pitch came in at 86 mph, a strike. His velocity peaked with the 88-mph, first-pitch cutter he threw to the second hitter he faced, Scott Hairston. He retired the outfielder one pitch later on a 74-mph breaking ball that was popped up to short.
"It's all coming back, it's just a matter of going out there and doing it," he said.
Joe Girardi was pleased with what he saw from Pettitte, and took note of the number of Yankees regulars -- meaning pretty much all of them -- who stuck around to watch the lefthander's outing. Typically, they'd be gone after being removed from the game.
Pettitte, known for his bulldog focus, did take notice of the prolonged ovation he received upon taking the mound. But he quickly settled in and went to work.
"It definitely felt a little weird," Pettitte said. "But once I got out there it was like you never left."
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