Burnett's spot in Yankees' rotation safe for now

Yankees manager Joe Girardi wouldn't come right out and say it, but it seems as if A.J. Burnett will not be pitching for his rotation spot when he faces the Athletics Wednesday night.

Burnett was brutal in August (0-4, 7.80) and Javier Vazquez made a case to rejoin the rotation with 42/3 excellent innings in relief of Dustin Moseley on Monday.

Girardi, however, said his rotation at the moment is status quo. "We haven't made any changes," he said. "Right now, we're on schedule. We haven't really talked about it. Javy has thrown the ball extremely well his last two outings. There's no hiding that fact."

Just as there's no hiding how bad Burnett has been. Burnett made a joke Tuesday about having to go work "on nothing" when reporters approached him. He was not in a mood to talk about his struggles. "We'll watch him, see how he's throwing," Girardi said. "Hopefully, he gets on a roll and just pitches a really good game. But there won't be a sense of panic on our part. We're going to let the guy pitch. We need him to pitch."

Another guy the Yankees need to pitch is Andy Pettitte. He is scheduled for a modified bullpen session Wednesday in which he simulates an inning, sits down, then throws another inning.

Pettitte, out since July 20 with a strained left groin, said he would prefer that over a regular bullpen session like he threw Sunday, when he went for 35 pitches without a break in Chicago. "Just because it would give me an opportunity to just progress a little bit," he said. "I feel like I want to progress each time if I'm feeling good."

Extra bases

Lance Berkman (sprained right ankle) could be activated Wednesday as rosters expand. Girardi said before the game the team had not settled on which minor-leaguers would get called up . . . Reliever Jonathan Albaladejo will be among the Yankees' call-ups.

With Ken Davidoff