Freddy Garcia's strong outing makes Joe Girardi's decision tougher

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Joe Girardi is getting what he asked for.

At the start of spring training, faced with picking five starters from a field of six candidates, Girardi said he was hoping "everyone throws well" to make his decision a difficult one.

And that's exactly what has happened. Girardi acknowledged Saturday morning that there's probably nothing he can see from any of the candidates in their remaining starts that would push one ahead of the other.

"It's going to be a tough decision. I've kind of resigned myself to that fact at this point," he said. "Because the guys are throwing the ball well."

Freddy Garcia kept that trend going Saturday in his first appearance since March 14, when he was forced to leave a game against Toronto after taking a batted ball off his pitching hand.

Garcia, making his fourth start, was the best he's been thus far, allowing one hit in 4 1/3 scoreless innings in the Yankees' 4-2, 10-inning win over the Tigers.

"Right now you have to go out there and pitch good because we're at the point, we're six guys for five spots," said Garcia, who lowered his ERA from 4.50 to 2.92. "For me, I'm pitching good. That's all I can control."

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Garcia was able to laugh about nearly getting knocked out of another game when Jhonny Peralta hit a ground smash off his right leg. "Nothing to worry about," he said with a smile. "I threw every pitch today and felt great."

Said Girardi: "Freddy was great today. He had it all."

At the start of the competition, Girardi guaranteed rotation spots to CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda, leaving Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda and Garcia to fight for the final three spots. All have had their moments, with Hughes the most consistent of the quartet. He's also the only one of the four with extensive bullpen experience, but the way Brian Cashman talked up Hughes Thursday night, calling him one of the "best young guns" in the sport when healthy, he would seem to have secured a spot.

Cashman was receiving calls about Garcia from pitching-deficient teams even before Andy Pettitte came out of retirement, and those calls figure to have only increased since. Pineda and Nova have options, making it possible to send them to the minors, but they also could be candidates for the bullpen if they don't make the final rotation cut.

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"It's the decision we're going to have to make and live by it," Girardi said. "Doesn't mean it's a final decision and it can't change, but we have to go with what we feel is right." He said he goes "back and forth" on his best five "because of what we've seen."

He was in a different scenario -- and, Girardi said, a more difficult one -- last year when he tried to fill out a rotation with a shortage of pitchers. Garcia and Bartolo Colon ended up filling out the rotation behind Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Nova.

This year's competition is more challenging. "Because it's so close," Girardi said. "Last year we had six guys for five spots, not sure what we'd be getting out of Bartolo, and we went with Phil. When Phil struggled, you just moved Bart in. This year you have six guys throwing the ball pretty decent."

Pettitte's return, likely around May 1, will complicate things. But that isn't an immediate concern. "Sometimes things have a way of working themselves out by then," Girardi said. But barring something unforeseen, that won't be the case, giving him just what he wanted: a tough call.